In his press statements, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said inflationary numbers were somewhat stuck, citing tariffs raising consumer prices as a reason for the stagnant figures. However, he also indicated that the committee believed the effect would be largely transitory and that data showed the economy was strong and job markets were balanced. Because of this, he expects that the FOMC will still make two rate cuts in 2025 as previously planned.
Sticky inflation isn’t limited to the United States. North of the border, Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday (March 18) that the consumer price index ticked up to 2.6 percent in February, versus a more modest 1.9 percent increase in January.
The agency cited the end of the tax holiday implemented by the federal government in December as the primary source of the rise, as tax is included in CPI data. It also indicated the rise was moderated by slower price increases in gasoline.
Newly sworn-in Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who replaced former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is expected to dissolve parliament this Sunday (March 23) and announce an election for April 28 or May 5. The election would occur amid a growing trade war between the US and Canada and shortly after a new round of global tariffs from the US is set to take effect on April 2.
For his part, Carney met with the premiers on Friday (March 21) to discuss opening up trade between the provinces and working to create a more unified Canadian economy. Currently, trade between provinces faces restrictions on many goods, from natural resources to alcohol and dairy products.
Markets and commodities react
In Canada, markets were largely positive this week. The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) gained 2.57 percent during the week to close at 637.79 on Friday (March 14), the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) was up 1.7 percent to 24,968.49 and the CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) dropped 0.4 percent to 123.20.
After seeing sharp declines in recent weeks, US equity markets were up slightly this week. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) gained 0.6 percent to close the week at 5,667.57 and the Nasdaq 100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) rose 0.42 percent to 19,753.97. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) saw the largest gains adding 1.27 percent to 41,985.36.
Gold held above the US$3,000 mark this week and set a new all time high at US$3,053 following the Fed’s rate announcement. Overall, the gold price gained 1.23 percent over the week to US$3,021.85 per ounce at 4:00 p.m. EDT Friday. The silver price went the opposite direction, losing 2.35 percent during the period to US$33.03.
In base metals, the copper price broke through US$5 per pound this week, gaining 4.69 percent to close out Friday at US$5.12 per pound on the COMEX. Meanwhile, the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) was up 1.18 percent to close at 558.21.
Top Canadian mining stocks this week
So how did mining stocks perform against this backdrop? We break down this week’s five best-performing Canadian mining stocks below.
Data for this article was retrieved at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Friday using TradingView's stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market capitalizations greater than C$10 million are included. Companies within the non-energy minerals and energy minerals sectors were considered.
Weekly gain: 136.36 percent
Market cap: C$12.99 million
Share price: C$0.13
BCM Resources is an exploration company working to advance its flagship Thompson Knolls project in Utah, United States.
The greenfield copper, molybdenum, gold, and silver project in Utah's Great Basin consists of 225 federal unpatented lode mining claims and two state section leases covering an area of 2,242 hectares.
Exploration of the project area began in the 1970s, when a US Geological Survey aerial survey identified a prominent magnetic anomaly. In the 1990s, follow-up work was conducted at the target.
BCM carried out its last drill program at the property in 2023. At the time, the company announced that one drill hole encountered a significant mineral intercept of 0.66 percent copper, 0.12 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold and 7.4 g/t silver over 155.4 meters starting at a depth of 621.8 meters. The sample also contained eight intervals with greater than 1 percent copper over 24.3 meters.
The company received approval from the Bureau of Land Management for a plan of operation to continue drilling at the project. In a July 2024 update, the company released data from an analysis of the project’s porphyry-skarn system by the Colorado School of Mines, which it plans to use to prepare for the drilling at the site.
Although the company did not release news this week, shares were up alongside a surging copper price.
Weekly gain: 100 percent
Market cap: C$31.99 million
Share price: C$0.03
KWG Resources is a chromite and base metals exploration company focused on moving forward at its Ring of Fire assets in Northern Ontario, Canada. It does business as the Canadian Chrome Company.
The firm's properties consist of the Fancamp and Big Daddy claims, along with the Mcfaulds Lake, Koper Lake and Fishtrap Lake projects. All are located within a 40 kilometer radius, and according to the company are home to feeder magma chambers containing chromite, nickel and copper deposits.
KWG is currently working with local First Nations to improve transportation to the region through the development of road and rail links. The company announced on November 7 that it had signed a memorandum of agreement with AtkinsRealis Canada in its capacity as a contractor representing the Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations.
The agreement will allow AtkinsRealis temporary access rights over some mineral exploration claims in support of work permits for an environmental assessment for the design, construction and operation of a multi-use, all-season road between the proposed Marten Falls community access road and the proposed Webequie supply road.
Once completed, the link will provide improved access to communities and mining companies in the region.
KWG released a pair of news releases this week. On Tuesday, the company announced the closing of the second tranche of a private placement; the company raised gross aggregate proceeds of C$422,614.32 between the two rounds. It followed the news on Friday with the announcement of a proposed private placement for proceeds of up to C$5 million.
Weekly gain: 60 percent
Market cap: C$33.97 million
Share price: C$0.08
Sterling Metals is an exploration company working to advance a trio of projects in Canada.
Over the past year, its primary focus has been on exploration at its brownfield Copper Road project in Ontario. The 25,000 hectare property has hosted two past-producing copper mines and has the potential for larger intrusion-related copper mineralization.
On January 15, Sterling announced results from a 3D induced polarization and resistivity survey that covered an area of 5 kilometers by 3 kilometers and revealed multiple high-priority drill-ready targets.
The company intends to use the survey results, along with historical exploration, to inform a drill program at the site.
The company’s other two projects consist of Adeline, a 297 square kilometer district-scale property with sediment-hosted copper and silver mineralization along 44 kilometers of the strike, and Sail Pond, a silver, copper, lead and zinc project that hosts a 16 kilometer long linear soil anomaly and has seen 16,000 meters of drilling. Both properties are located in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The most recent news came on Monday (March 17), when Sterling announced it had upsized its private placement for the second time. The expanded round will see gross proceeds of up to C$1.6 million.
Weekly gain: 60 percent
Market cap: C$33.97 million
Share price: C$0.08
Star Diamond is an exploration and development company working to advance its flagship Fort à la Corne diamond district in Saskatchewan, Canada.
The property is located 60 kilometers east of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Previously a joint venture with Rio Tinto, Star Diamond acquired Rio Tinto’s stake in the project in March 2024 in exchange for 119.32 million shares in Star Diamond, resulting in Rio Tinto holding a 19.9 percent ownership position in the diamond junior.
Fort à la Corne has seen extensive exploration of kimberlite deposits, including geophysical surveys, large-diameter drilling and micro- and macro-diamond analyses.
The Star-Orion South diamond project, the most advanced project area in Star Diamonds' portfolio, is located within the district.
In 2018, the company released a PEA for Star-Orion South, which reported a resource of 27.15 million carats of diamonds from 200.16 million metric tons with an average grade of 14 carats per 100 metric tons. The inferred resource is 5.18 million carats from 72.08 million metric tons, with an average grade of 7 carats per 100 metric tons.
At the time, the company estimated a post-tax NPV of C$2 billion, an IRR of 19 percent and a payback period of 3 years and 5 months.
On January 9, Star Diamond announced that a 70.7 million share block held by a former project partner had been sold, with 61.12 million shares purchased by an international investor interested in diamonds.
The company’s most recent news came on February 27, when it announced that it had closed the second tranche of its private placement for gross proceeds of C$230,000, adding to the C$335,000 from the first tranche it closed on February 18. The funds will be used as working capital. According to the announcement, Star Diamond is discussing funding for a pre-feasibility study with potential investors.
Weekly gain: 58.62 percent
Market cap: C$35.01 million
Share price: C$0.46
Cordoba Minerals is an exploration company working to advance its flagship Alacran project in Colombia.
The 20,000 hectare property hosts copper, gold and silver mineralization across five deposits: Alacran, Alacran North, Montiel East, Montiel West and Costa Azul. The project is a 50/50 joint venture with JCHX Mining Management (SHA:603979).
A feasibility study for the project released in February 2024 demonstrated an after-tax net present value of US$360 million with an internal rate of return of 23.8 percent and a payback period of three years.
The mineral resource estimate for the Alacran deposit and historical tailings reported an indicated resource of 99.46 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 0.41 percent copper, 0.24 g/t gold and 2.65 g/t silver. Contained metal totals 904.53 million pounds of copper, 765,400 ounces of gold and 8.47 million ounces of silver.
The company’s most recent news came on January 10, when it reported that it had closed a US$10 million bridge financing deal with JCHX.
FAQs for Canadian mining stocks
What is the difference between the TSX and TSXV?
The TSX, or Toronto Stock Exchange, is used by senior companies with larger market caps, and the TSXV, or TSX Venture Exchange, is used by smaller-cap companies. Companies listed on the TSXV can graduate to the senior exchange.
How many companies are listed on the TSXV?
As of June 2024, there were 1,630 companies listed on the TSXV, 925 of which were mining companies. Comparatively, the TSX was home to 1,806 companies, with 188 of those being mining companies.
Together the TSX and TSXV host around 40 percent of the world’s public mining companies.
How much does it cost to list on the TSXV?
There are a variety of different fees that companies must pay to list on the TSXV, and according to the exchange, they can vary based on the transaction’s nature and complexity. The listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000. Accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000, while legal fees are expected to be over C$75,000 and an underwriters’ commission may hit up to 12 percent.
The exchange lists a handful of other fees and expenses companies can expect, including but not limited to security commission and transfer agency fees, investor relations costs and director and officer liability insurance.
These are all just for the initial listing, of course. There are ongoing expenses once companies are trading, such as sustaining fees and additional listing fees, plus the costs associated with filing regular reports.
How do you trade on the TSXV?
Investors can trade on the TSXV the way they would trade stocks on any exchange. This means they can use a stock broker or an individual investment account to buy and sell shares of TSXV-listed companies during the exchange's trading hours.
Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
