5 Top Weekly TSXV Stocks: Rio2 Leads After Fenix Project Gets EIA Approval

Weekly gain: 73.91 percent; market cap: C$104.8 million; current share price: C$0.40

Rio2 is a junior gold development and mining company focused on bringing its Fenix gold project in the Atacama region of Chile to production. The site, located 20 kilometers south of Kinross Gold’s (TSX:K,NYSE:KGC) La Coipa gold and silver mine, has measured and indicated reserves of 4.8 million ounces of gold. Once built the mine is expected to deliver 1.32 million ounces of gold per year, with a lifespan of 16.2 years.

Construction at the site has been halted since a July 2022 decision that denied the company’s environmental impact assessment, which was the necessary approval to continue with the project. Following a review, Rio2 said in a September 2022 release it had identified numerous discrepancies with factual and procedural matters of the review and would be exercising its right to an administrative appeal.

Shares in Rio2 reached a year-to-date high last week of C$0.405 following news on Wednesday (December 20) that the company has secured approval for its environmental impact assessment for Fenix. This critical step will allow Rio2 to begin permitting and financing for the next phase of construction in 2024.

Weekly gain: 50 percent; market cap: C$12.19 million; current share price: C$0.09

Firefox Gold is an exploration company focused on its projects in Finland, including the Mustajärvi gold project. The site in Northern Finland hosts a 2.1 kilometer strike zone at which drilling has uncovered multiple high-grade intercepts including 15.04 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold over 13.05 meters.

Among its other assets are what it refers to as its Northern Group properties, which includes several prospective gold targets such as its Sarvi project and its Kolho Trend target, which covers a 23-kilometer-long contact zone with gold-bearing potential. Firefox received its first exploration permit for the site’s Nuttio target earlier in 2023 and began exploration activities in April, but has not released results.

Shares in Firefox saw gains this past week following an announcement on Wednesday that it had entered into a strategic financing agreement with Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX:AEM,NYSE:AEM) for C$1.43 million, for total gross proceeds of C$1.69 million which would provide funding for exploration efforts at Mustajärvi and other Lapland projects. Concurrently, the two companies entered an earn-in agreement in which Agnico Eagle can earn a 51 percent stake in the Kolho property by incurring US$5 million in exploration spending within five years.

Weekly gain: 46.34 percent; market cap: C$23.82 million; current share price: C$0.30

EV Nickel is a nickel exploration company focused on its Shaw Dome asset south of Timmins in Ontario, Canada. The project consists of over 30,000 hectares, with more than 100 kilometers of strike length. Its two primary zones are the W4 zone, which contains measured, indicated and inferred reserves of 19,640.5 metric tons (MT) of nickel; and the large-scale CarLang area, which hosts indicated and inferred resources of 2.4 million metric tons of nickel.

Shares in EV Nickel are up more than 46 percent this week, although the company hasn’t released any news since its interim financial report on November 28.

Weekly gain: 44.44 percent; market cap: C$16.10 million; current share price: C$0.325

Arras Minerals is a junior exploration and development company with a portfolio of copper and gold assets located in Northeast Kazakhstan, specifically focused on the development of projects within the Bozshakol-Chingiz magmatic arc. The company currently holds the third largest land package in the country at 3,300 kilometers, behind only Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,LSE:RIO,NYSE:RIO) and Fortescue (ASX:FMG,OTCQX:FSUMF).

Arras has seen significant gains in the past week, although its most recent update was the announcement of a strategic alliance with Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.A,TSX:TECK.B,NYSE:TECK) on December 7. The alliance would target critical metals in Arras’ portfolio in the Bozshakol-Chingiz magmatic arc, but does not include Arras’ flagship Beskauga copper-gold project and its Stepnoe, Ekidos, Aimandai and Elemes exploration licenses.

Weekly gain: 37.5 percent; market cap: C$70.34 million; current share price: C$0.22

Defense Metals is a rare earth metals exploration and development company that is currently focused on its 100 percent owned Wicheeda property near Prince George in British Columbia, Canada. The project hosts measured and indicated mineral reserves of 699,000 MT of total rare earth oxides.

Shares in Defense have seen price gains this past week following an announcement on Monday (December 18) of the results of its annual general meeting that indicated that all matters submitted to shareholders were approved.