5 Top Weekly TSXV Stocks: Great Bear’s Great Gains

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) was up on Friday (August 24), rising 9.46 points to 709.27, or 1.35 percent.

The steady rise seems to show that the index has rebounded from this year’s rock-bottom low of 670 points, which it reached on August 15; that’s the lowest it’s been since mid-2016.

The US and China have had long-threatened tariffs kick into effect, making markets unhappy, while in Australia leadership has changed yet again — although how that will affect markets is yet to be seen. Various industries in Australia have been increasingly unhappy with a series of policy backflips that have unsettled investors.

Meanwhile in Canada, the Conservative party has an unhappy camper.

Here, the Investing News Network takes a look at what miners and energy companies were up to last week. Here are the period’s top five gainers on the TSXV:

• Great Bear Resources (TSXV:GBR)
• Ikkuma Resources (TSXV:IKM)
• First Cobalt (TSXV:FCC)
• Crystal Lake Mining (TSXV:CLM)
• Azimut Exploration (TSXV:AZM)

Scroll down to see what each of the five have been up to lately.

Great Bear Resources

Canadian precious metals explorer Great Bear Resources had very fresh news last week, announcing on Thursday (August 23) a C$10-million private placement and investment from McEwen Mining (TSX:MUX,NYSE:MUX) a gold-mining company lead by Rob McEwen, founder of Goldcorp (TSX:G,NYSE:GG).

That news came on the tail of the company announcing a high-grade gold discovery in Ontario, including 16.35 meters of 26.91 g/t gold and 7 meters of 44.47 g/t gold at its Dixie project in the Red Lake District.

You can read Independent Speculator Lobo Tiggre’s thoughts on the discovery here.

Investors liked the news, with Great Bear’s share price skyrocketing 240 percent as of 10:30 a.m. PST on Friday to C$1.87; it started at C$0.58 on Monday (August 20).

Ikkuma Resources

Oil and gas company Ikkuma Resources may soon be no more, announcing on Friday that it has entered into an agreement under which Pieridae Energy (TSXV:PEA) will acquire all of its shares.

The completion of the deal will give Pieridae ownership of an extensive area of producing and gas-prone reserve and resource properties situated primarily in the Central Alberta foothills area.

According to the release, shares will be acquired for C$0.86 per share, a 188-percent premium on Ikkuma’s closing value on Thursday. On the TSXV, Ikkuma’s value had increased to C$0.58 by 10:30 a.m. PST on Friday, up 96.61 percent.

First Cobalt 

Cobalt explorer First Cobalt enjoyed a 68.42-percent increase in value over the week, reaching C$0.48 by Friday. The increase is a continuation of gains triggered last week when the company announced news about its Iron Creek expansion in Idaho.

According to the company, which hopes to take advantage of the burgeoning electric vehicle boom, it hopes to restart extraction and production operations at Iron Creek — its flagship operation — within the next few years.

Crystal Lake Mining 

Mining explorer and developer Crystal Lake has two projects on the boil — the Tom Cat property located near Merritt in BC, and the Northwest Ontario nickel-cobalt project located unsurprisingly in Ontario.

The Ontario project is the target of what the company calls an “aggressive exploration program” at a historical mineral zone located 35 kilometers from New Gold’s (TSX:NGD) Rainy River gold mine.

No recent news from Crystal Lake, but its share price was up by 42.86 percent by Friday to C$0.60.

Azimut Exploration

Mineral explorer Azimut holds a major precious and base metals portfolio in Quebec, including a number of copper, gold, nickel, cobalt and rare earths prospects dotted through the Nunavik region in the northern reaches of the province.

Its most recent news has been about its James Bay interests in Central Quebec — it announced promising exploration numbers from its Eleonore South property when it posted results from 32 diamond drill holes.

That news was back in mid-July though, so is quite stale. While there’s nothing new to announce in the meantime (or that this reporter could find) the company’s share price increased by 36.17 percent to C$0.32 by Friday, up from where it started on Monday at around C$0.27, and well up from a year-to-date low hit last week of C$0.23.

Data for 5 Top TSXV Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday at 10:30 a.m. PST using tradingview.com. Only companies with a market capitalization greater than $10 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the basic materials and energy sectors are considered.

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

Editorial Disclosure: Great Bear Resources is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.