The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) closed last week in the red, falling 0.75 percent.
In the resource sector, all eyes were on the gold price as it edged closer to the US$2,000 per ounce mark. The yellow metal often responds positively in the face of turmoil, and has been spurred on by bank collapses in the US.
Banking sector concerns have spread globally as well, with UBS (NYSE:UBS) stepping in to acquire Switzerland’s Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), which has faced a deterioration in confidence in recent months.
Read on to see which TSXV-listed resource stocks saw the biggest share price gains last week.
1. Vertical Exploration (TSXV:VERT)
{“@context”:”http://schema.org”,”@type”:”Corporation”,”name”:”Vertical Exploration”,”url”:”https://vertxinc.com/”,”description”:”Vertical Exploration Inc is a junior mining company. It is engaged in the acquisition, exploration development, and evaluation of mineral properties in Canada. The company’s St. Onge Wollastonite project located in Quebec, Canada.”,”tickerSymbol”:”TSXV:VERT”,”sameAs”:[]}
Weekly gain: 100 percent; current share price: C$0.12; market cap: C$11.71 million
Vertical Exploration is a North America-focused explorer, and its flagship project is the producing St-Onge wollastonite project in the Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. It also has the Ménard-Péribonka wollastonite property, which it acquired in 2022.
Wollastonite is a mineral composed of nearly equal parts calcium oxide and silica, and it has a variety of uses, including in construction and agriculture. Vertical Exploration has completed multiple offtake agreements and sales of its product, the largest of which was with a vineyard in Kelowna, BC, last year.
Although the company hasn’t released any news since a January exploration update for Ménard-Péribonka, its share price has climbed dramatically in March after starting the month at C$0.04, only picking up further momentum last week.
2. Santacruz Silver Mining (TSXV:SCZ)
{“@context”:”http://schema.org”,”@type”:”Corporation”,”name”:”Santacruz Silver”,”url”:”http://www.santacruzsilver.com/”,”description”:”Multi-Mine Mexican Silver Production”,”tickerSymbol”:”TSXV:SCZ”,”sameAs”:[],”image”:”https://investingnews.com/media-library/santacruz-silver-mining.png?id=27863725&width=980″,”logo”:”https://investingnews.com/media-library/santacruz-silver-mining.png?id=27863725&width=210″}
Weekly gain: 90 percent; current share price: C$0.57; market cap: C$136.85 million
Santacruz Silver Mining is a South American silver miner with producing assets in Bolivia and Mexico, as well as an exploration project in Bolivia. The company’s Bolivar and Porco operations are part of a joint venture agreement with the Bolivian government, which owns 55 percent compared to Santacruz’s 45 percent. Santacruz acquired a portfolio of producing assets in Bolivia from major miner Glencore (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF) last year.
Santacruz is another top weekly gainer that hasn’t released news since January, when it shared its 2022 production results. Regardless of the lack of news, it climbed significantly last week after opening the period at C$0.31.
3. Midland Exploration (TSXV:MD)
{“@context”:”http://schema.org”,”@type”:”Corporation”,”name”:”Midland Exploration Inc.”,”url”:”https://www.midlandexploration.com”,”description”:”Midland Exploration Inc is a mining exploration and development company. It is primarily engaged in the gold, nickel, copper, zinc, uranium, and other base metal properties in Canada. The company has multiple projects comprising Adam, Casault, Heva, Jouvex, Laflamme, Lewis, Maritime-Cadillac, Mythril, Mythril Regional, Soissons, Nachicapau, Noyelles, Willbob, and others.”,”tickerSymbol”:”TSXV:MD”,”sameAs”:[],”image”:”https://investingnews.com/media-library/image.gif?id=31089488&width=980″,”logo”:”https://investingnews.com/media-library/image.gif?id=31089488&width=210″}
Weekly gain: 41.41 percent; current share price: C$0.70; market cap: C$49.45 million
Polymetallic project generator Midland Exploration describes itself as “dynamic and aggressive” in its search for world-class deposits in Quebec. The company has dozens of projects throughout the Abitibi, James Bay, Nunavik, Appalachian and Grenville regions. The projects span a range of metals, including gold, lithium, nickel and copper, alongside other base and precious metals.
Midland’s most recent news came on March 6, when it completed a lithium-focused targeting study in James Bay. The study identified new highly prospective targets on Midland’s current properties; the company also acquired new projects on February 28 that have been shown to have lithium potential.
Despite the lack of fresh news, the company’ share price spiked at the end of last week, moving from C$0.52 to C$0.70 between the close of trading on Wednesday (March 15) and close of trading on Friday (March 17).
4. Equity Metals (TSXV:EQTY)
{“@context”:”http://schema.org”,”@type”:”Corporation”,”name”:”Equity Metals”,”url”:”https://equitymetalscorporation.com/”,”description”:”Exploring Drill-Ready Targets for Resource Expansionn”,”tickerSymbol”:”TSXV:EQTY”,”sameAs”:[],”image”:”https://investingnews.com/media-library/tsxv-eqty.jpg?id=27864907&width=980″,”logo”:”https://investingnews.com/media-library/tsxv-eqty.jpg?id=27864907&width=210″}
Weekly gain: 34.48 percent; current share price: C$0.195; market cap: C$19.7 million
Equity Metals is focused on its Silver Queen gold-silver project in BC, in which it has 100 percent interest. Equity also has interests in two diamond projects, Monument and WO, both in the Northwest Territories’ Lac de Gras region in Canada.
The company’s last news item came in late January, when it released a corporate update. Although it has seen no recent news, Equity’s share price spiked last week, particularly during Friday’s trading period.
5. Guanajuato Silver (TSXV:GSVR)
{“@context”:”http://schema.org”,”@type”:”Corporation”,”name”:”Guanajuato Silver Co”,”url”:”https://www.gsilver.com/”,”description”:”Exploring silver and gold projects in Guanajuato, Mexico.n”,”tickerSymbol”:”TSXV:GSVR”,”sameAs”:[],”image”:”https://investingnews.com/media-library/tsxv-gsvr.png?id=27865057&width=980″,”logo”:”https://investingnews.com/media-library/tsxv-gsvr.png?id=27865057&width=210″}
Weekly gain: 31.51 percent; current share price: C$0.48; market cap: C$183.6 million
Guanajuato Silver is a silver miner with multiple producing assets in Mexico, including the El Cubo and Valenciana mine complexes, and the Topia and San Ignacio mines. The latter three were acquired in 2022, when Guanajuato purchased Great Panther Mining’s (OTC Pink:GPLDF) Mexican subsidiary. The deal also included the Cata processing plant and the production facility at the Topia mine.
Guanajuato Silver released news last Thursday (March 16), announcing the arrangement of “a new US$5,000,000 silver and gold pre-payment facility with Swiss-based precious metals trading firm, OCIM Metals & Mining.” It will replace the facility currently in place between the two entities, which had a balance of US$5.5 million. According to the company’s CFO Lisa Dea, the new facility will give Guanajuato balance sheet flexibility as the company ramps up operations at its mines.
After climbing through last week, Guanajuato’s share price jumped on Friday.
Data for 5 Top Weekly TSXV Performers articles is retrieved each Friday after market close 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 are considered.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.