1. Power Metallic Mines (TSXV:PNPN)

Year-to-date gain: 40.37 percent
Market cap: C$364.15 million
Share price: C$1.53

Power Metallic Mines, formerly Power Nickel, is developing its 80 percent owned Nisk polymetallic property in Québec, Canada, which hosts high-grade nickel, copper, platinum, palladium, gold and silver mineralization.

The company was recognized as one of 2024's top 50 performers on the TSX Venture Exchange, ranking as the top mining company and fourth overall company due to its 365 percent share price appreciation for the year.

Ongoing work at the Nisk project has generated positive newsflow for Power Metallic in 2025. After starting the year at C$1.07, the company's share price climbed to C$1.49 by January 30 following two key announcements.

First, the company released drill results from a 2024 fall campaign at Nisk's Lion zone and said it was starting a winter 2025 drill campaign at the site. Shortly after, it announced the discovery of Tiger, a new find located 700 meters east of the Lion zone; it said it would target Tiger during winter drilling. From there, Power Metallic shares jumped more than 26 percent to reach C$1.88 on February 6, the highest point of Q1. This followed further drill results out the 2024 fall campaign, with notable assays further demonstrating the high-grade nature of the mineralization.

Other notable news supporting the company's share price this quarter includes the closing of a C$50 million private placement and plans to scale up the 2025 winter drill campaign from three to six rigs in the second quarter. Additionally, further results from the 2024 fall campaign expanded the Lion zone with the deepest assayed intersection to date, plus initial nickel-copper assays from the new Tiger zone.

2. Magna Mining (TSXV:NICU)

Year-to-date gain: 25.93 percent
Market cap: C$273.59 million
Share price: C$1.70

Magna Mining is a base metals exploration and development company based in Sudbury, Ontario. The company’s flagship assets are the Shakespeare mine and the Crean Hill project.

Shakespeare is a past-producing nickel, copper and platinum-group metals mine with major permits in place. The property hosts an indicated open-pit resource of 16.51 million metric tons at 0.56 percent nickel equivalent. Crean Hill also hosts a past-producing mine that produced the same resources.

Magna's share price started off the year at C$1.42, and gradually climbed throughout the following weeks to reach a year-to-date high of C$1.84 on February 5.

Its share price was supported by continued positive updates on its acquisition of a portfolio of base metals assets in the Sudbury Basin, including the producing McCreedy West copper-nickel mine, through a share purchase agreement with a subsidiary of KGHM Polska Miedz (FWB:KGHA). The company closed the deal at the end of February.

Magna was included in the 2025 TSX Venture 50 list, which was released in mid-February, and closed a C$33.5 million private placement in early March.

3. Talon Metals (TSX:TLO)

Year-to-date gain: 23.53 percent
Market cap: C$79.45 million
Share price: C$0.105

Talon Metals is focused on developing high-grade nickel resources for the US domestic battery supply chain. The company has partnered with mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO) on the Tamarack nickel-copper project located in Minnesota, US. Talon has an earn-in right to acquire up to 60 percent of Tamarack and currently owns 51 percent. The US Department of Defense awarded Talon a US$20.6 million grant in September 2023.

An environmental review process is underway for the proposed Tamarack underground mine. The company plans to process ore from the mine at a proposed battery mineral processing facility in North Dakota. Talon has said it intends to initiate the permitting process for the processing facility in 2025.

Talon has a six year offtake deal with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) for a total of 75,000 metric tons, or 165 million pounds, of nickel concentrate, as well as cobalt and iron by-products, from Tamarack once it's in commercial production.

The company is also the operator of the Boulderdash nickel-copper discovery and numerous high-grade nickel-copper prospects in Michigan, which it optioned to Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN,OTC Pink:LUNMF) in early March.

Talon shares hit a year-to-date high of C$0.105 on March 26. That day, the company announced a significant massive sulfide discovery at Tamarack with an intercept measuring over 8.25 meters logged as 95 percent sulfide content.

4. Stillwater Critical Minerals (TSXV:PGE)

Year-to-date gain: 16.67 percent
Market cap: C$32.61 million
Share price: C$0.14

Stillwater Critical Minerals’ flagship asset is its Stillwater West polymetallic project in Montana, US. In addition to the platinum-group elements, copper, cobalt and gold resources identified on the property, a January 2023 inferred mineral resource estimate on Stillwater West shows it has the largest nickel resource in an active US mining district.

Stillwater Critical Minerals' share price reached a year-to-date high of C$0.14 on March 26.

On that day, the company reported multiple large-scale magmatic sulfide targets following analysis of a property-wide third-party MobileMtm magneto-telluric geophysical survey completed in late 2024.

The data from the survey was also used to build a new 3D geological model of the lower Stillwater Igneous Complex that will help the company to further prioritize targets at Stillwater West in an upcoming planned drill campaign.

5. First Atlantic Nickel (TSXV:FAN)

Year-to-date gain: 15.22 percent
Market cap: C$25.22 million
Share price: C$0.265

First Atlantic Nickel is developing its wholly owned Atlantic nickel project in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The large-scale project hosts a naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy that contains about 75 percent nickel with no sulfur or sulfides. Called awaruite, it is known for its strong magnetic properties. Its easier and cleaner to separate and concentrate than conventional nickel ores as it can be processed without a smelter.

A series of catalysts in February gave the company’s stock value a boost to the upside. On February 19, it shared that drilling had confirmed "the RPM zone extends 400 meters along strike and 500 meters wide, remaining open at depth and along strike to the north and west, indicating significant expansion potential."

Initial Phase 1 assay results from the Super Gulp zone were released on February 26 showing up to 0.32 percent nickel with an average of 0.25 percent nickel over the entire 293.8 meter length. First Atlantic Nickel said the results confirm "the presence of a major new nickel zone." That same day, shares of First Atlantic surged to C$0.33.

The next month, on March 4, First Atlantic reported a new discovery at the RPM zone with intersects of 0.24 percent nickel over 383.1 meters, and 10 kilometers downstrike from Super Gulp.

First Atlantic shares reached their highest year-to-date value of C$0.35 on March 13 after the firm announced initial metallurgical test results from the first drill hole at the RPM zone. It said “the results confirm the potential for magnetic separation as a viable processing method for awaruite nickel mineralization previously identified at the RPM Zone.”

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