5 Top Weekly TSXV Stocks: Atacama Pacific Up on Merger News

Last Friday (May 18), the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) rose 3.09 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 784.44.

Oil drove the market last week, with the news that the US will be withdrawing from the Iran deal biting. Oil has been on its way up, with energy companies wary of what to do next. Prices are currently sitting at US$71.35 a barrel, though they managed to top US$80 during the week.

On the TSX Venture Exchange a number of exploration companies stood out from the pack. Although gold dominated, uranium and graphite also featured. Here are the top five gainers for last week:

• Teras Resources (TSXV:TRA)
• Plateau Energy Metals (TSXV:PLU)
• Atacama Pacific Gold (TSXV:ATM)
• Thor Explorations (TSXV:THX)
• Zenyetta Ventures (TSXV:ZEN)

Teras Resources

Exploration company Teras Resources saw its share price rise a cool 25 percent on the TSX Venture Exchange last week. The company focuses on precious and base metals exploration in the US, with projects in California and Montana. Its flagship project is the Cahuilla silver-gold property in California, which has an indicated resource of a million ounces of gold and 11.9 million ounces of silver.

Teras’ most recent news came on April 30, when it announced a US$1.4-million private placement to push a project in California forward. The company’s share price was at C$0.10 at close on Friday.

Plateau Energy Metals

Plateau Energy Metals is an advanced-stage explorer and developer, and is currently focused on uranium and lithium exploration on the Macusani Plateau in Southern Peru. Last week, the company announced an increase to a previously reported non-brokered private placement; it is now looking to raise C$2.502 million for drilling and other pursuits.

The company’s share price rose 24.59 percent last week on the TSX Venture Exchange, to C$0.76.

Atacama Pacific Gold

Atacama Pacific Gold is focused on exploration for precious metals in Chile, with one principle property called Cerro Maricunga, and an additional six that the company owns or has interests in.

The company will not be around much longer though — on Monday (May 14) it released details of a planned merger with Rio2 (TSXV:RIO); the combined company will operate under the Rio2 banner. The reaction was positive for Atacama, whose share price increased 21.67 percent over the week to C$0.73. Rio2’s share price response was more muted, however, falling 1.94 percent to C$0.95.

Thor Explorations

Canadian precious metals exploration company Thor Explorations has two gold projects in West Africa, and announced an update on metallurgical testwork for its Segilola gold project in Nigeria on Friday (May 18). The company reported that probable reserves at Segilola currently stand at 448,000 ounces of gold grading 4.2 grams per tonne.

Investors reacted positively to the news, with the company’s share price jumping 18.92 percent in Toronto, to C$0.22.

Zenyatta Ventures

Zenyatta Ventures bills its Northern Ontario-based Albany graphite project as the largest and only known deposit within the rare igneous-hosted, hydrothermal subclass of graphite deposits in development.

Last Wednesday, the company announced a new board chair and new board committees, and appointed a chief restructuring officer. The changes follow a special meeting of shareholders held on May 11, during which a number of board members were replaced. Zenyatta’s share price on the TSX Venture Exchange was up 17.31 percent to end at C$0.61 on Friday.

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Data for 5 Top TSXV Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday at 10:30 a.m. PST using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only companies with a market capitalization greater than $10 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the mining and precious metals sectors are considered.

Securities Disclosure: I, Scott Tibballs, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: Plateau Energy Metals is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.