Both Canada and the US released upbeat job reports on Friday (February 7) indicating strong employment gains in both countries.
Statistics Canada reported that 76,000 jobs were added to the Canadian economy in January, the majority of which were in the private sector. Manufacturing contributed 33,000 new workers, and professional, scientific and technical services added 22,000.
This marks the third consecutive month of net gains following the addition of 91,000 jobs in December and 44,000 in November. The agency indicated that over the past three months, 147,000 full-time jobs were added, while part-time labor increased by 64,000.
The additional workers entering the labor force pushed the unemployment rate down by 0.1 percent from the previous month to 6.6 percent.
Meanwhile, south of the border, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its employment situation summary, which indicated that 143,000 new jobs were added in January. Large gains were seen in healthcare with 44,000 new jobs during the month. Retail trade increased by 34,000 and social assistance jobs saw gains of 22,000 new workers.
Overall, the employment rate edged down to 4 percent from the 4.1 percent recorded in December, marking the lowest level since May 2024.
Markets and commodities react
While markets saw small losses on Friday, they were broadly positive over the past five days, with the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) gaining 0.94 percent to end Friday at 6,025.98 while the Nasdaq 100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) gained 1.93 percent to 21,491.31. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) was flat, gaining just 0.08 percent to 44,303.41.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) saw a 4.95 percent gain on the week to close at 639.28 on Friday (February 7). Meanwhile, the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) posted a 1.21 percent increase to hit 25,442.91 and the CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) jumped 3.47 percent to reach 135.64.
Gold saw further gains this week as it continued to set new all time highs. Overall, the gold price increased 2.26 percent during the week to close at US$2,861.49 per ounce on Friday at 5 p.m. EST. Silver performed strongly as well, closing the week up 1.61 percent at US$31.80.
In base metals, the copper price surged 7.67 percent for the week to close at US$4.63 per pound on the COMEX, and the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) was largely flat, posting a 0.24 percent gain to close at 563.24.
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. EST on February 7, 2024, 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: 91.67 percent
Market cap: C$45.19 million
Share price: C$0.23
Orosur Mining is an exploration company focused on the development of early to advanced-stage assets in South America.
Exploration has revealed multiple gold deposits at its flagship Anzá gold project in Colombia, which is located 50 kilometers west of Medellin and sits along Colombia’s primary gold belt.
Orosur also owns several early-stage projects, the El Pantano gold-silver project in Argentina, the Lithium West project in Nigeria and the Ariquemes project in Brazil, which is prospective for tin, niobium and rare earths.
The Anzá gold project was previously a 49/51 joint venture with Minera Monte Aguila (MMA), a corporation owned equally by Newmont (TSX:NGT,NYSE:NEM) and Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX:AEM,NYSE:AEM).
Orosur shares have seen significant gains since the end of November 2024 when the company announced that it had completed its acquisition of MMA, giving Orosur 100 percent indirect ownership of the Anzá gold project.
Following the transaction's completion, exploration resumed at the project’s Pepas prospect in mid-November to test high-grade results from a 2022 drill program. The company announced its most recent drill results on Tuesday, saying it had encountered high-grade gold over long intervals beginning at surface. One highlighted intercept assayed up to 7.24 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold over 76.3 meters.
Weekly gain: 64.1 percent
Market cap: C$480.52 million
Share price: C$1.92
Almonty Industries is a tungsten and molybdenum mining and development company focused with operations in Spain, Portugal and South Korea.
It is currently working on developing the Sangdong tungsten-molybdenum mine in South Korea, which hosts the largest tungsten deposit in the world. The mine is expected to begin production at the end of 2026 and has an anticipated mine life of 60 years. When fully ramped up the mine is projected to have an annual throughput of 640,000 metric tons, and will deliver 5,600 metric tons of molybdenum.
On January 29, Almonty announced it had entered into an offtake agreement with SeAH Group (KRX:058650) subsidiary SeAH M&S, a Korean metals company supplying the steel industry. SeAH M&S will purchase the entire production of molybdenum for the life of the Sangdong mine with a hard floor price of US$19 per pound.
Almonty also operates the Los Santos mine in Spain and the Panasqueira mine in Portugal, both producing high-grade tungsten concentrate.
In addition to the offtake agreement Almonty also announced on January 19 its intention to relocate its jurisdiction of incorporation from Canada to the US state of Delaware. It said it would maintain its listings on both the TSX and ASX.
Shares in Almonty began trading higherthis week after China announced on Tuesday it would be restricting metals exports, including tungsten and molybdenum, in response to US trade tariffs.
Weekly gain: 89.29 percent
Market cap: C$20.58 million
Share price: C$0.265
Blue Lagoon Resources is an exploration and development company focused on advancing its gold and silver projects in British Columbia, Canada.
Its flagship Dome Mountain gold project, located near Smithers, BC, is a past-producing asset composed of 26 claims covering 21,000 hectares and hosts 15 known high-grade gold veins.
A February 2022 updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) from the site demonstrated measured resources of 45,000 ounces of gold and 250,000 ounces of silver from 136,000 metric tons with average grades of 10.32 g/t gold and 57.31 g/t silver. Additionally, the MRE reported indicated resources of 173,000 ounces of gold and 876,000 ounces of silver from 662,000 metric tons of ore grading 8.15 g/t gold and 41.19 g/t silver.
Blue Lagoon's shares saw significant gains this week after the company announced on Thursday (February 6) that it had received the final mine permits and is preparing to begin mining operations as soon as July 2025.
“We are delivering to our shareholders one of only a handful of mining permits granted in British Columbia over the last decade,” Chief Geologist Bill Cronk said.
Once in operation, annual production will be limited to 55,000 metric tons of ore, from which the company expects to recover 15,000 ounces of gold.
Weekly gain: 58.33 percent
Market cap: C$13.75 million
Share price: C$0.095
Electric Metals is a mineral development company focused on advancing its flagship Emily manganese project in Minnesota, US.
According to the company, the asset is North America’s highest-grade manganese resource. A May 2024 MRE shows Emily hosts an indicated resource of 6.23 million metric tons with grades of 19.27 percent manganese and 22.41 percent iron with an additional inferred resource of 4.91 million metric tons with grades of 17.5 percent manganese and 20.44 percent iron with a cut off of 10 percent manganese.
Shares in Electric Metals have seen recent gains after a January 28 news release when the company announced it was starting work on a preliminary economic assessment for the Emily manganese project. It expects the report to be completed during the second quarter of 2025.
Weekly gain: 51.22 percent
Market cap: C$34.79 million
Share price: C$0.31
Goldgroup Mining is a gold production, development and exploration company working to advance its Cerro Prieto heap-leach gold mine.
The 4,335-hectare property, located in Sonora, Mexico, produces an annual average of 11,500 ounces of gold and has produced more than 120,000 ounces since its beginning in March 2013.
Goldgroup is currently working to double the capacity of the mine to more than 25,000 ounces per year. The last update on the progress came in October 2024, when it announced that it had installed the primary crusher with a 2,200 metric ton per day throughput. It also said it had expanded pumping and irrigation capacity.
Goldgroup's most recent news came on February 6, when it announced that all shareholders holding share purchase warrants from financing rounds completed in September and November 2024 had informed the company they would exercise all outstanding warrants. The company had previously informed shareholders it was accelerating the warrants, changing the expiry date to February 9. Goldgroup will receive gross proceeds of C$1.87 million.
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.
