Top 5 Nickel Stocks on the TSX and TSXV (Updated August 2022)

Year-to-date gain: 50 percent; market capitalization: C$46.81 million; current share price: C$0.39

Garibaldi Resources is an explorer focused on its high-grade Nickel Mountain project in BC, Canada. According to the company, it discovered Northwest BC’s first magmatic nickel massive sulfide, which is within the E&L intrusion at Nickel Mountain. The discovery contains seven metals, including nickel, copper and cobalt. Exploration highlights include 8.3 percent nickel, 4.3 percent copper and 0.19 percent cobalt over 16.75 meters.

Garibaldi released results from a 2021 ZTEM survey at Nickel Mountain on March 31. According to the release, “the large ZTEM response beneath E&L greatly expands the potential for further discovery beneath and around E&L.” In the week following this news, company shares jumped to a year-to-date high of C$0.63 on April 4. Since then, the company has released follow-up information about the ZTEM results, including the identification of a new pipe-like target, and has announced the purchase of an additional mineral tenure that is contiguous with its Red Lion project.

On May 13, Garibaldi announced that exploration at the Casper quartz gold vein discovery showed 30 grams per MT gold, after which the company saw a small share price spike. At the end of July, the company closed its non-brokered private placement financing after accruing C$2.29 million, which it says will be used to explore its base metals projects. Two days later, Garibaldi announced it was commencing its diamond drill exploration program at the E&L project. It will test the targets that the 2021 ZTEM survey identified.

Year-to-date gain: 23.81 percent; market capitalization: C$15.26 million; current share price: C$0.13

Grid Metals is a nickel explorer and developer working out of Canada’s Manitoba and Ontario provinces. The company holds a portfolio of five projects that all tie into its goal of targeting the battery metals industry. Grid’s flagship project is its Makwa Mayville nickel-copper project, which also hosts platinum-group metals and cobalt mineralization. Near Makwa Mayville is Grid’s Mayville lithium property. The company is also exploring the Donner Lake lithium project. In addition to these, the company owned the Bannockburn nickel property until recently.

The company’s share price rose with nickel to hit a year-to-date high of C$0.23 on March 10. On March 11, it released drill results from its Bannockburn nickel property; the best result was 341.7 meters averaging 0.28 percent nickel. Since then, Grid has released exploration results for two drill holes at Donner Lake and 14 at Makwa Mayville. Grid released further positive news at Donner Lake that extended the Northwest Dyke target, which started a share price gain that met its previous high on May 3; it shared the discovery of high-grade lithium at the project on May 12.

On June 7, Grid Metals and Canada Nickel Company (TSXV:CNC,OTCQX:CNIKF) announced that Grid would be selling Bannockburn to the latter company. In return, Grid Metals will receive 2 million Canada Nickel common shares. The company has since continued its exploration at Donner Lake, sharing drill results and a project update in late July. Most recently, on August 22, Grid Metals announced a strategic financing with the goal of raising up to C$8.52 million.

Year-to-date gain: 7.32 percent; market capitalization: C$174.81 million; current share price: C$0.44

Sherritt International is a miner, producer and refiner of high-purity nickel and cobalt, and its primary focus is nickel. The company operates a mine in Cuba and a refinery in Alberta, Canada, both of which are part of its 50/50 Moa joint venture with Cuba’s General Nickel Company. The vertically integrated joint venture has a capacity of 35,000 MT of nickel and 3,800 MT of cobalt produced per year.

In February, Sherritt released its 2021 production results and 2022 guidance. Among other details, the company revealed it expects a production increase for nickel, from 31,184 MT in 2021 to guidance of 32,000 to 34,000 MT for this year. On March 1, the company announced the appointment of decarbonization expert Chih-Ting Lo to its board of directors, and also named Maryse Bélanger as deputy chair. The focus of these changes is to strengthen Sherritt's commitment to environmental, social and governance matters.

Sherritt’s share price shot up alongside the nickel price to reach a high of C$0.82 on March 10. On May 11, the company shared its first quarter results, including its portion of finished nickel production at Moa of 3,875 MT. More recently, the company released its second quarter results on July 27, with finished nickel production at Moa of 3,704 MT, down slightly quarter-on-quarter. However, year-on-year the company’s numbers were up significantly thanks to increases in battery metals prices. While in Q2 2021 the company incurred a C$10.4 million net loss from operations, it saw positive net earnings of C$81.5 million in Q2 2022.

Year-to-date gain: 5.1 percent; market capitalization: C$94.09 million; current share price: C$1.03

Unlike the other companies on this list, Nickel 28 Capital is a streaming and royalty company focused on battery metals, primarily nickel and cobalt. The company has an 8.56 percent joint venture interest in the Ramu nickel-cobalt operation in Papua New Guinea, as well as royalty agreements for 13 nickel and cobalt projects.

Most of Nickel 28’s news this year has been annual and quarterly results. On February 1, it shared full-year and Q4 2021 operating results for Ramu, including annual output of 31,594 MT of contained nickel and sales of 32,793 MT. Although Nickel 28 didn’t release more news until May 9, its share price has trended upwards this year, with a spike in early March and steady growth in April. It hit its year-to-date high of C$1.73 on April 20, but fell off in early May.

On May 9, Nickel 28 shared its Q1 results for Ramu, with production of 8,756 MT of contained nickel and sales of 3,336 MT. Nickel 28's share price saw a spike in late May, which it maintained through the June 1 release of its results for the 2021 financial year, including repayment of US$38 million of debt. Its share price has fallen again recently, but it is still up year-to-date. August saw the company share its Q2 results, with 8,128 MT of contained nickel produced at Ramu, slightly down from Q1. In mid-August, Nickel 28 announced that Giga Metals (TSXV:GIGA,OTCQX:HNCKF) had secured a joint venture agreement with Mitsubishi (TSE:8058) to develop Giga Metals' Turnagain nickel-cobalt project, for which Nickel 28 has a 2 percent net smelter agreement.

Year-to-date gain: 2.5 percent; market capitalization: C$41.1 million; current share price: C$0.41

The last company on the list is Giga Metals, which is focused on supplying nickel and cobalt to aid in the clean energy future. The company plans to fast track its Turnagain project in North-Central BC, Canada, which it describes as one of the “largest undeveloped nickel-cobalt sulphide deposits in the world in terms of total contained nickel.” It has measured and indicated resources of 5.2 billion pounds of nickel and 312 million pounds of cobalt, as well as inferred resources of 5.5 billion pounds of nickel and 327 million pounds of cobalt.

Giga Metals started 2022 strongly, spiking to reach a year-to-date high of C$0.51 on January 20. On January 31, Giga Metals announced a land swap with Copper Fox Metals (TSXV:CUU,OTCQX:CPFXF), in which it gave Copper Fox a strip of properties along its northwest claims at Turnagain in exchange for land near the south end of the property. Giga Metals believes this land could be used to host a tailings management facility and possibly a mill.

Since then, Giga Metals’ share price has trended downwards for much of 2022, excluding a spike alongside the nickel price’s jump. In May, the company shared 2021 drill results from Turnagain, and in August it shared the completion of its 2022 geotechnical field program at the project. However, the company’s share price saw a huge leap on the news about its joint venture with Mitsubishi, mentioned above. The two will create a new joint venture company named Hard Creek Nickel and will develop the Turnagain project together. Giga Metals' share price moved from C$0.33 on August 12 to C$0.40 the day the news was released.