Top 5 Canadian Mining Stocks This Week: Lithium Africa Rises Over 50 Percent on Assay Results

Markets and commodities react

Canadian equity markets were mixed this week.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) gained 2.19 percent over the week to close Friday at 36,176.55, while the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) lost 3.87 percent to 845.30.

The CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) slid 7.2 percent to 139.77.

The gold price gained 0.81 percent to close at US$4,168.21 per ounce on Friday at 4:00 p.m. EDT. The silver price fared worse, closing the week down 3.65 percent at US$56.98.

In base metals, the Comex copper price recorded a 0.35 percent increase this week to US$6.57.

The S&P Goldman Sachs Commodities Index (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) was up 1.85 percent to end Friday at 752.04.

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.

Stocks data for this article was retrieved at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Friday using TradingView's stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market caps greater than C$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.

1. Lithium Africa (TSXV:LAF)

Year-to-date gain: 51.9 percent
Market cap: C$18.74 million
Share price: C$1.20

Lithium Africa is an explorer and developer building a portfolio of hard-rock lithium projects in South Africa and Côte d’Ivoire. Its current focus is its Springbok project in South Africa's Northern Cape province. The asset covers a 1,675 square kilometer area that includes a 5 hectare mining permit over the past-producing Norrabees I lithium mine. The company filed a technical report for the project in July, but has not yet defined a resource.

On Thursday (October 15), Lithium Africa reported complete assays from a hole at Norrabees I that returned 8 meters grading 1.7 percent lithium oxide (Li2O) from 21 meters depth, including 4 meters at 2.59 percent Li2O.

Spodumene has now been intersected in all four holes reported so far at Norrabees I, with three returning high-grade intervals within about 21 meters of surface. CEO Thomas Benson commented, “Both drilling campaigns at Norrabees I have intersected high-grade mineralization at shallow depths, and that consistency underpins our objective of evaluating a potential small-scale operation to help fund exploration at Springbok."

The results follow the company’s October 7 decision to advance Springbok toward spodumene concentrate production, targeting first output in the second half of 2027. Mining at Norrabees I is already permitted, although the processing plant it plans to build will need further approvals. Three rigs remain active at Springbok, and the company expects more drill and channel sampling results through early 2027.

2. Lion Copper (TSXV:LCU)

Year-to-date gain: 45.3 percent
Market cap: C$148.57 million
Share price: C$8.50

Developer Lion Copper is moving forward at its Yerington copper project in Nevada, US.

The brownfield project is located in Lyon County, in the historic Yerington copper district, and is being advanced under an earn-in agreement with Nuton, a Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO) venture that is funding the work and supplying its heap-leach technology to process sulfide material at the site.

An August 2025 prefeasibility study outlines a 12 year open-pit, heap-leach operation that would produce 120 million pounds of copper cathode annually; it also shows a post-tax net present value of US$694 million and an internal rate of return of 14.6 percent and a payback period of 6.7 years. The company has now shifted its focus to a definitive feasibility study, which it says will be completed in the first quarter of 2027.

On Wednesday, Lion Copper received approval to list its shares on the Nasdaq Capital Market, with trading expected to begin on October 19. It expects the listing to increase its exposure to US retail and institutional investors.

On Monday (October 12), the company also agreed to extend the maturity of US$2.7 million in convertible debentures from November 2026 to May 2027, providing near term payment relief.

3. Pacific Booker (TSXV:BKM)

Year-to-date gain: 31.67 percent
Market cap: C$72.99 million
Share price: C$3.70

Pacific Booker Minerals is an exploration and development company focused on its Morrison property, located in Central BC, Canada. The site is in the advanced stages of development and hosts copper, gold and molybdenum mineralization. The company has been working on development plans since 2004, and completed a feasibility study in 2009. However, work hasn’t been able to proceed as it needs approval from the nearby Lake Babine Nation.

In May 2024, Pacific Booker announced it would be seeking legal recourse after communications between itself and Lake Babine Nation broke down. The company indicated it had received a memorandum of understanding from Lake Babine Nation in 2012, but legal counsel for the nation has refuted that the understanding was in existence.

On August 21, it announced it was working complete a prefeasibility study for the project, including an updated mineral resource estimate, with the study expected in the first quarter of 2027.

“The PFS is expected to incorporate current engineering practices, cost estimates and economic assumptions and will assist the Company in evaluating the potential future development of the Project,” said CEO John Plourde.

The most recent news came on October 7, when the company upsized a private placement for gross proceeds of up to C$12 million, which it plans to use to advance Morrison. Pacific Booker has not released any news since then.

4. Roxmore Resources (TSX:RM)

Year-to-date gain: 29.89 percent
Market cap: C$499.46 million
Share price: C$6.91

Roxmore Resources is a gold development company advancing its Converse gold project in Nevada, US.

The project is located on the Battle Mountain-Eureka trend in North-Central Nevada. On April 20, Roxmore released a preliminary economic assessment for Converse that outlines an economic case with a post-tax net present value of US$2.7 billion and an internal rate of return of 43 percent from a base-case gold price of US$3,600.

The company is currently working toward the completion of a prefeasibility study for Q4 2027.

The most recent news came on Tuesday (October 13), when Roxmore agreed to be acquired by SSR Mining (TSX:SSRM,NASDAQ:SSRM) in a deal valued at about C$712 million. The company will spin out its exploration assets into a new company, with shareholders receiving 0.33 shares for each Roxmore share they hold.

Roxmore CEO John Dorward will lead the spinout company, which will hold its remaining exploration assets, including the Rattlesnake Hills gold project in Wyoming and the Newton gold project in BC, along with US$10 million in cash. SSR will take a minority stake in that firm.

5. Aurania Resources (TSXV:ARU)

Year-to-date gain: 31.67 percent
Market cap: C$72.99 million
Share price: C$3.70

Aurania Resources is an exploration company focused on precious metals and critical energy projects in Europe and abroad. Its recent focus has been on its Thormódsdalur gold-silver project, located about 20 kilometers east of Reykjavík, Iceland. It covers approximately 51,300 hectares under a single national exploration permit.

Aurania is exploring it as part of an earn-in agreement with St-Georges Eco-Mining. Under the terms of the agreement, Aurania can earn up to a 70 percent interest in the project by incurring phased exploration expenditures of US$5 million over four years. For an additional US$2 million in expenses plus a royalty, Aurania can earn up to 100 percent. The project hosts a historically known epithermal gold system and has no current resource.

On Tuesday, Aurania completed its 2026 drill program at Thormódsdalur, totaling eight holes and 780.7 meters. The program was designed to test historical holes which had achieved only 50 percent core recovery.

Core recovery from the new holes was closer to 100 percent, with every hole demonstrating vein and breccia textures consistent with an epithermal gold-silver system.

“Previous drilling programs reported core recoveries of approximately 50% or less, with fine material lost during drilling, particularly in the mineralized zones,” said President and CEO Keith Barron.

Samples have been sent to the lab, and Aurania expects assay results in November.

FAQs for Canadian mining stocks

How much does it cost to list on the TSXV?

There are a variety of different fees that companies must pay to list on the TSXV, and according to the exchange, they can vary based on the transaction’s nature and complexity.

As of April 2026, the listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000, and accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000. Legal fees are expected to be over C$75,000 and an underwriters’ commission may hit up to 12 percent.

The exchange lists a handful of other fees and expenses companies can expect, including but not limited to security commission and transfer agency fees, investor relations costs and director and officer liability insurance.

These are all just for the initial listing, of course. There are ongoing expenses once companies are trading, such as sustaining fees and additional listing fees, plus the costs associated with filing regular reports.

How do you trade on the TSXV?

Investors can trade on the TSXV the way they would trade stocks on any exchange. This means they can use a stock broker or an individual investment account to buy and sell shares of TSXV-listed companies during the exchange's trading hours.