The biggest contributors to the gains were 43,000 new workers added in wholesale and retail trade; 19,000 new jobs in the information, culture and recreation category; and 12,000 new employees within the real estate and finance sector.
While these additions were significant, they were offset by the loss of 32,000 jobs in the public administration sector, as well as a decline of 16,000 workers in both the accommodation and food services sector and the transportation and warehousing sector. Additionally, 15,000 jobs were lost in the business, building and support services sector. Despite the net job gains, unemployment registered a 0.1 percent gain to 7 percent, while the employment rate was stable at 60.8 percent.
Also this week, StatsCan released its 2023 mineral production survey on Wednesday (June 4). The report shows that total revenues for metal ore mining and non-metallic mineral mining and quarrying industry groups in 2023 decreased by 9.3 percent to C$59.7 billion year-over-year. Meanwhile, expenses rose by 8.6 percent to C$43.2 billion during the same period.
South of the border, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released May's employment situation summary on Friday. The report shows that the US labor market remained stable for the month, adding 139,000 nonfarm workers. The report also indicates that unemployment remained unchanged at 4.2 percent, while the participation rate decreased by 0.2 percent to 62.4 percent.
The largest gains were felt in the healthcare sector, which accounted for roughly half of the new jobs at 62,000, while the hospitality sector came in second with 48,000 new jobs. However, the economy was impacted by the loss of an additional 22,000 federal government employees, bringing the total number of federal job losses for the year to 59,000.
Human resources tech company ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) reported that US private sector employers added 37,000 new jobs in May, the lowest level since March 2023. This growth was wholly concentrated in mid-sized companies, with small and large establishments losing jobs. The natural resources and mining industry lost 5,000 jobs over the period.
Additionally, platinum prices have been on the rise over the last two weeks, highlighted by an over 10 percent surge during the past five days to US$1,168.45 per ounce on Friday. Increased interest in precious metals, high investment demand from China and a large supply shortfall in Q1 are some of the drivers of the metal's gains.
Other news that may affect the platinum market is the cancellation of EV tax credits proposed in the US tax bill working its way through Congress, as well as infighting between Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump following Musk’s departure from the Trump administration. The threat has sent ripples through the automotive sector and may cause increased demand on an already stressed platinum market.
Markets and commodities react
In Canada, major indexes were positive at the end of the week.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) climbed 0.93 percent during the week to close at 26,429.13 on Friday. The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) had a larger gain of 3.06 percent to 721.60 and the CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) rose 1.7 percent to 117.55.
US equities were also in positive territory this week, with the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) gaining 1.76 percent to close at 6,000.37, the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) rising 2.31 percent to 21,761.79 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) adding 1.33 percent to 42,762.88.
The gold price was up this week, gaining 1.02 percent to close Friday at US$3,322.73. The silver price climbed substantially, surging 8.92 percent during the period to US$35.91, a 13 year high for the metal.
In base metals, the COMEX copper price rose 4.78 percent over the week to US$4.86 per pound. Meanwhile, the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) posted a gain of 3.87 percent to close at 545.00.
Top Canadian mining stocks this week
How did mining stocks perform against this backdrop?
Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Canadian mining stocks below.
Stock data for this article was retrieved at 4 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: 275 percent
Market cap: C$71.87 million
Share price: C$0.15
Africa Energy is a South Africa-focused oil and gas exploration and development company.
Its flagship asset is Block 11B/12B located approximately 175 kilometers off the south coast of South Africa. The block covers an area of 18,734 square kilometers and depths between 200 meters and 1,800 meters.
Africa Energy previously held a 4.9 percent stake in the project through its 49/51 joint venture with Arostyle Investments named Main Street 1549, which owned 10 percent of the asset.
The remaining partners were project operator TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) at 45 percent, Qatar Petroleum at 25 percent and CNR International (TSX:CNQ,NYSE:CNQ) at 20 percent.
Main Street 1549’s three partners announced plans to withdraw from the Block 11B/12B joint venture in July 2024, and discussions on restructuring the ownership had been underway since.
Shares in Africa Energy began surging May 29 after Africa Energy announced a definitive agreement for the new ownership structure of the Block 11B/12B asset.
Under the terms of the definitive agreement between Africa Energy and Arostyle Investments, Africa Energy will increase its ownership of Main Street from a 49 percent to 100 percent stake. Additionally, the withdrawing parties assigned 65 percent of their participating interest in Block 11B/12B to Main Street and 25 percent to Arostyle.
As a result, Africa Energy's stake in the asset increased from 4.9 percent to 75 percent.
Weekly gain: 95 percent
Market cap: C$17.24 million
Share price: C$0.39
Allegiant Gold is a gold exploration company working to advance several projects in Nevada, United States.
Its flagship Eastside project, located in Esmeralda County, consists of 973 unpatented lode mining claims covering 8,289 hectares. Nearly 70,000 meters of drilling has been carried out at the property since 2011.
A July 2021 resource estimate showed inferred quantities at the site of 1.09 million ounces of gold with an average grade of 0.55 g/t and 8.7 million ounces of silver with an average grade of 4.4 g/t from 61.73 million tons of ore.
Allegiant announced its most recent news on May 29, when it stated that its previously announced one-for-two share consolidation would take effect on June 2, this past Monday. Following the consolidation, its share price rose through the remainder of the week.
Weekly gain: 89.66 percent
Market cap: C$17.15 million
Share price: C$0.275
LaFleur Minerals is advancing a pair of projects in the Abitibi gold belt of Québec, Canada. Its Swanson gold project consists of a 15,290 hectare land package in the southern portion of Québec’s Abitibi gold belt. Historic drilling at the site, which covered 958 holes, revealed broad mineralization with widths of up to 40 meters.
A September 2024 resource estimate suggested total indicated resources of 123,400 ounces of gold from 2.11 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 1.8 grams per metric ton (g/t) along with inferred resources of 64,500 g/t from 872,000 metric tons with an average grade of 2.3 g/t.
The company’s other property is the past-producing and fully permitted Beacon mill and mine in Val-d’Or, which LaFleur acquired in September 2024 as part of a receivership sale. Monarch Mining previously owned the mine, which has been on care and maintenance since 2022 following a C$20 million refurbishment.
LaFleur is planning to restart the mill, which has a processing capacity of 750 metric tons of ore per day, with the potential for third-party milling agreements. The mill is also just 50 kilometers from Swanson.
Shares in LaFleur gained this week after it announced updates for both properties on Wednesday.
The company is planning a 5,000 meter drilling program at Swanson set to begin this month, with more than 50 targets having been identified. Additionally, LaFleur announced that it is targeting early 2026 for full production from Beacon at a budget of C$5 million to C$6 million.
Weekly gain: 84.85 percent
Market cap: C$37.46 million
Share price: C$0.305
Eastern Platinum, also known as Eastplats, is a platinum group metal (PGM) and chrome mining, development and exploration company working to advance assets in South Africa.
Its most advanced asset is the Crocodile River mine, located northwest of Johannesburg. The mine began operating in 1987, but production was suspended in the early 1990s due to falling PGM prices. Since then, the mine saw some limited production in the early 2000s before once again being suspended.
After significant rehabilitation, chrome and PGM production from site tailings was restarted at the site in 2018 and 2020 respectively, and underground operations at the Zandfontein mine restarted in October 2023. In October of last year, Eastplats began commissioning a PGM processing plant that will process ore from Zandfontein.
A technical report from May 2022 demonstrates a proven and probable resource of 1.72 million ounces of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold, with an average grade of 3.68 g/t from 14.58 million metric tons of ore.
Although the company did not release news this week, shares in Eastplats gained alongside a surging platinum price.
Weekly gain: 58.33 percent
Market cap: C$15.06 million
Share price: C$0.095
TNR Gold is an exploration and royalty company with a focus on the acquisition of green energy and gold assets.
The company owns the advanced Shotgun gold project in Alaska’s Kuskokwim Gold Belt. The property consists of 108 claims covering an area of 6,993 hectares. A 2013 technical report shows inferred resources of 705,960 ounces of gold from 20.73 million metric tons with an average grade of 1.06 g/t gold.
Its royalty investments are a 1.5 percent net smelter royalty from Ganfeng Lithium’s (OTC Pink:GNENF,SZSE:002460,HKEX:1772) Marina lithium brine operation and a 0.4 percent net smelter royalty in McEwen Mining’s (TSX:MUX,NYSE:MUX) Los Azules copper-gold-silver project. Both assets are located in Argentina.
The latest news from TNR came on May 14 when it released a corporate update highlighting its success from the royalty portion of its business and providing updates from its key investments.
TNR also said it was looking to attract a partnership with a major gold mining company to help advance its Alaskan Shotgun project.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: LaFleur Minerals is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.
