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5 Top Weekly TSXV Stocks: Noram Lithium Gains 64 Percent on Updated Resource Estimate
Jun. 16, 2024 07:40PM PST
Last week's top-gaining mining and energy stocks on the TSXV were Noram Lithium, TriStar Gold, Black Mammoth Metals, Strathmore Plus Uranium and Aurania Resources.
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The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) fell 14.16 points last week to close at 574.09.
Markets saw a significant recovery this past Wednesday (June 12) following the release of the latest US consumer price index (CPI) data and the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decision.
The May CPI figures show a 0 percent change month-on-month and a 3.3 percent increase on an annual basis. Those are declines from April’s 0.3 percent monthly increase and 3.4 percent year-on-year figure.
The improved inflation data wasn’t enough to sway the Fed, and after wrapping up its meeting it said it would hold its benchmark rate at 5.25 to 5.5 percent. Chair Jerome Powell declined to say when cuts can be expected, but said Federal Open Market Committee members are forecasting that the rate will fall to 5.1 percent by the end of the year.
At the same time, he suggested any future cuts will depend on the Fed having confidence that inflation is continuing to sustainably moving toward the central bank’s target level of 2 percent.
The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) and the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) saw volatility immediately following the announcements, but then posted gains to set new record highs this past week. The S&P closed Thursday (June 13) at 5,433.75 points, while the Nasdaq-100 carried its momentum into Friday’s (June 14) session to close at 19,659.8.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) gained more than 150 points during mid-week trading, but saw its gains erased by the end of the week to close the period at 38,589.17.
On a more focused level, the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) surged this past Monday (June 10) ahead of the US economic data dump, remaining elevated to close the week with a gain of just under 2 percent. Meanwhile, Canada's S&P/TSX Global Base Metals Index (INDEXTSI:TXBM) was on the decline, closing the week with a loss of more than 3 percent.
Gold and silver prices spiked ahead of the Fed's announcement, but sank on the news that rates will remain unchanged. Gold fell below the US$2,300 per ounce mark before finishing the week in the US$2,330 range. Silver tracked a similar path, falling below the US$29 per ounce price point before seeing a slight gain to end the week in the US$29.50 range.
Against that backdrop, these five TSXV-listed mining and energy stocks performed the best last week.
1. Noram Lithium (TSXV:NRM)
Weekly gain: 63.64 percent; market cap: C$14.69 million; share price: C$0.18
Noram Lithium is a lithium exploration and development company focused on the advancement of its Zeus lithium project in Nevada, US. The property, located near Clayton Valley, comprises 146 placer and 136 lode claims covering 1,133 hectares in a region with existing lithium brine operations since 1967. Noram has been exploring the site since 2016.
The most recent update from the project came this past Tuesday (June 11), when Noram released an updated mineral resource estimate, reporting an indicated resource of 564 million metric tons (MT) at a concentration of 956 parts per million (ppm), resulting in 2.9 million MT of contained lithium carbonate equivalent. Zeus' inferred resource stands at 1.3 million MT of contained lithium carbonate equivalent from 287 million MT grading 861 ppm lithium.
2. TriStar Gold (TSXV:TSG)
Weekly gain: 55.56 percent; market cap: C$54.59 million; share price: C$0.21
TriStar Gold is an exploration and development company focused on its flagship Castelo de Sonhos gold project, which is located near the town of Castelo de Sonhos in Northern Brazil's Pará state.
According to a 2021 prefeasibility study, the project hosts an indicated resource of 1.76 million contained ounces of gold from 53.1 million MT at a grade of 1.03 grams per MT (g/t) gold. At the time, the company estimated a mine life of 11 years with an annual production rate of 3.6 million MT of ore, as well as a net present value of US$321 million with an internal rate of return of 28 percent and a payback period of 2.8 years.
Shares of TriStar saw gains this past week after the company announced on Tuesday that the Pará State Environmental Council has approved the site's preliminary license and environmental impact assessment.
3. Black Mammoth Metals (TSXV:BMM)
Weekly gain: 35.29 percent; market cap: C$27.9 million; share price: C$1.15
Black Mammoth Metals is a gold explorer working to advance its US properties in Nevada, Idaho and California.
Its Happy Cat gold property is located in the Ravenswood Mining District in Ladner County, Nevada. The site covers approximately 1,213 hectares and hosts an approximately 4 square kilometer area where the company has identified a potential alteration zone. Black Mammoth completed ground gravity and magnetic surveys at the site in 2023.
The company also owns the Blanco Creek gold property in the Elk Creek Mining District in Central Idaho. The site hosts three historic mines along 3,550 meters of strike length.
In January, Black Mammoth acquired the America Mine property as part of its acquisition of IDA Mining. The site hosts a historical open-pit heap leach gold and silver mine and is located in San Bernardino, California.
On March 28, the company announced that its subsidiary, Antelope Creek, had entered into an option agreement with Gold Royalty (NYSE:GROY) subsidiary Nevada Select Royalty, which is optioning its Quito gold property in Nevada to Antelope Creek for payments totaling US$900,000 over four years.
Shares of Black Mammoth saw gains this past week, although it did not release news.
4. Strathmore Plus Uranium (TSXV:SUU)
Weekly gain: 30.91 percent; market cap: C$14.78 million; share price: C$0.36
Strathmore Plus Uranium is an exploration company focused on the advancement of three uranium projects in Wyoming, US, with plans to explore all three in 2024. The company’s Agate property, located in the Shirley Basin uranium district, is an in-situ recovery project that comprises 52 lode mining claims originally staked in the 1970s. Historical exploration at the site revealed shallow mineralization from depths of 15 to 150 feet.
Night Owl, also located in the Shirley Basin, hosts a past-producing mine that ceased operations due to low uranium prices in the 1960s. Strathmore also owns Beaver Rim, which consists of 131 lode mining claims over 2,706 acres and is located in the Gas Hills, an area where historic exploration has revealed highly prospective uranium mineralization.
Shares of Strathmore Plus saw gains this past week following Monday's announcement that the company has started drilling at its Agate property to follow up on discoveries from its 2023 exploration. It has been approved to drill an additional 200 holes totalling 30,000 feet.
5. Aurania Resources (TSXV:ARU)
Weekly gain: 25.81 percent; market cap: C$20.38 million; share price: C$0.39
Aurania Resources is an exploration company focused on the advancement of precious metals and copper projects in South America. The company’s flagship project is the Lost Cities - Cutucu project in Southeast Ecuador.
The site consists of 42 mining concessions with a land package of 208,000 hectares. It is situated in a region known for copper and gold deposits, and hosts several large-scale precious and base metals mining operations. The company is working on acquiring its exploration permits for the site.
The company's share price saw gains this past week after it announced on Monday that it has signed a share purchase agreement with Palamina (TSXV:PA,OTCQB:PLMNF) for the sale of Aurania’s Peruvian subsidiary, Sociedad Menera Vicus Explorations, in exchange for 350,000 common shares of Palamina and a 1 percent net smelter return royalty on certain mining claims held by Vicus.
Data for this 5 Top Weekly TSXV Performers article was retrieved at 1:00 p.m. PST on June 14, 2024, using TradingView's stock screener. Only companies with market capitalizations greater than C$10 million prior to the week's gains are included. Companies within the non-energy minerals and energy minerals were considered.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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