5 Top Weekly TSXV Performers: Gold Explorers Make Moves in Choppy Market

1. WesCan Energy

Wescan Energy is an oil and gas exploration and production company building a portfolio of light oil and liquids-rich natural gas properties in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

In late April, WesCan announced an agreement for a loan transaction of C$500,000 to move froward at its upcoming drilling program in Provost, Alberta. The energy firm also provided a brief update on continued groundwork. Additionally, WesCan increased the number of wells it plans to repair in 2022 from five to eight.

Shares of WesCan added 28.98 percent last week, closing at C$0.38.

2. Aurania Resources

Aurania Resources is focused on acquiring precious metals and copper exploration projects in South America. The company’s flagship Lost Cities-Cutucu asset is in Southeastern Ecuador.

Last Monday (May 2), Aurania told shareholders it has hired Dr. Cristian Vallejo of Geostrat as a geological consultant. Vallejo, who has nearly three decades of experience in the sector, is already working in the Patuca area at the Lost Cities-Cutucu project. By last Friday, shares of Aurania were up 28.54 percent at C$0.77.

3. BeMetals

Precious and base metals exploration and development company BeMetals is expanding its gold sector presence with a portfolio of wholly owned exploration projects in Japan.

In mid-April, BeMetals began a diamond drill program at its Kato project. John Wilton, company president and CEO, offered the following comments in a press release:

“We are very excited to have commenced our exploration drilling at the Kato project in a relatively remote but easily accessible area of Hokkaido in Japan. The company and its advisors regard the Kato project as demonstrating many geological and gold mineralization features often associated with significant, high-grade, epithermal gold deposits in Japan.”

Last week, BeMetals saw its share price rise 25 percent, ending the session at C$0.20.

4. Inventus Mining

Inventus Mining is advancing its Pardo paleoplacer gold project and the Sudbury 2.0 project, situated northeast of Sudbury. The firm says Pardo is the “first important paleoplacer gold discovery found in North America.”

Last month, Ontario-focused Inventus released assays from drilling at the Cobalt Hill target at Sudbury 2.0. Highlights include hole CH-22-05A, which encountered a continuous 111 meter mineralized intercept from 200 to 311 meters containing interspersed high-grade gold.

The mining company’s shares were up 23.1 percent over the first trading week of May, closing at C$0.16.

5. Lucky Minerals

Precious metals explorer Lucky Minerals wholly owns the Fortuna property. Located in Ecuador’s gold belt, Fortuna is made up of 12 contiguous exploration concessions covering 550 square kilometers.

Last Monday, Lucky announced the completion of targeting ahead of a drill program at the Wayka epithermal gold discovery within the larger Fortuna property.

“It is very exciting to be drilling below the trenches where strong mineralization was sampled at surface,” Lucky CEO Francois Perron said in a statement. “The main goal of the drilling program will be to extend these two-dimensional discoveries into the third dimension.”

Lucky’s shares added 23.25 percent over the five day period to trade at C$0.80.