The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) recorded a slight loss in the final trading week of the year, dropping 4.22 points to close at 552.9. Overall the index ended the 12 month period fairly flat, down 2.52 percent.
Investors watched interest rates closely throughout 2023, with the Bank of Canada and US Federal Reserve continuing to hike in H1. By the end of the year, market participants were starting to look for cuts from both central banks.
Safe-haven investments performed well in the first half of the year as the regional banking crisis in the US made headlines; meanwhile, geopolitical instability in the Middle East helped send the gold price to a record high in Q4.
The mining sector saw a few important moments in 2023. A merger between Newmont (TSX:NGT,NYSE:NEM) and Newcrest Mining created the largest gold producer in the world, and political turmoil in Panama saw the forced closure of one of the world’s largest copper mines, First Quantum Minerals’ (TSX:FM,OTCQX:FQVLF) Cobre Panama asset.
Looking more closely at the TSXV, the exchange opened the year at 567.17 points and climbed to a yearly high of 642.98 on March 3. Its low point came on November 10, when it dropped to 510.28, but as mentioned it’s since rebounded.
Which TSXV-listed mining and energy stocks saw the biggest gains in the last week of 2023? Read on to find out.
1. NorthWest Copper (TSXV:NWST)
Weekly gain: 41.67 percent; market cap: C$34.49 million; current share price: C$0.17
NorthWest Copper is a junior mineral exploration company focused on the development of three assets in British Columbia, Canada. The Kwanika/Stardust project consists of consolidated adjacent deposits to form an advanced-stage copper and gold exploration site, while Lorraine/Top Cat is another consolidation of properties covering 65,000 hectares within the Quesnel Terrane and holding high-grade gold and copper deposits. The EastNiv project is a site covering 23,765 hectares, with NorthWest, identifying several mineralized copper and gold porphyry outcroppings.
Shares in NorthWest saw gains this past week following an announcement on December 22, that it had closed the second tranche of a private placement, raising gross proceeds of C$288,960. This brings the total for private placements to C$514,211 including the first tranche which closed December 12.
2. Blue Star Gold (TSXV:BAU)
Weekly gain: 31.25 percent; market cap: C$31.53 million; current share price: C$0.42
Blue Star Gold is a gold exploration and development company with operations in Nunavut, Canada. Its assets consist of the Ulu gold project, comprised of the Ulu mining lease and the Hood River property, which make up a 12,000 hectare land package. Included in the property is a 21 year mining lease for the Flood Zone deposit with measured and indicated resources of 572,000 ounces of gold.
Blue Star’s also owns the Roma project, a 10,405 hectare crown mineral claim in the northern section of the High Lake greenstone belt. Three of 10 shallow drill holes completed site in 1991 contained visible gold, and included a high-grade highlight of 12.38 grams per metric ton (g/t) over 2.31 meters.
Shares in Blue Star saw significant gains this past week, but the company has not released any news since it announced the closing of the oversubscribed final tranche of a non-brokered private placement on December 13. In the release, the company said it had raised total proceeds of C$3,802,500.
3. Surge Battery Metals (TSXV:NILI)
Weekly gain: 30 percent; market cap: C$115.47 million; current share price: C$0.78
Surge Battery Metals is an exploration company focused on its Nevada North lithium project located in Elko County, Nevada, US. The site hosts a strong mineralized zone of lithium-bearing clay with a strike length of nearly 1,620 meters. Assays from the site have returned grades of up to 8,070 parts per million lithium. The company is targeting Q4 2024 for the release of a preliminary economic assessment.
Shares in Surge made significant gains this past week; however, the company has not released news since December 12, when it announced the start of additional mineral testing from its 2023 drill program. It said testing for the full program would be completed at the end of Q1 2024.
4. Rome Resources (TSXV:RMR)
Weekly gain: 30 percent; market cap: C$17.05 million; current share price: C$0.26
Rome Resources is a mineral exploration company working in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its sole focus is the Bisie North tin project, which consists of two contiguous exploration permits covering 38.43 square kilometers. Sampling from the site has returned highlighted results of up to 1.33 percent tin over 2 meters.
The most recent news from the company came on December 20, when it increased its earn-in interest for exploration permit PEPM 13274 from 21.75 percent to 51.48 percent. The remaining 49 percent stake in the project is owned by Medidoc-RD Congo SARLU. Rome already holds a 51 percent interest in permit 15130 and has a deal under which it can acquire an additional 15 percent.
5. Solstice Gold (TSXV:SGC)
Weekly gain: 30 percent; market cap: C$12.98 million; current share price: C$0.065
Solstice Gold is a mineral exploration company focused on the development of district-scale gold and lithium projects in Ontario and Nunavut, Canada.
Its gold projects consist of the Red Lake extension, a 174 square kilometer package of prospects located at the northern portion of the Red Lake Gold Camp in Northwestern Ontario; The Atikokan gold project, a 225 square kilometer package located near Agnico Eagle Mines’ (TSX:AEM;NYSE:AEM) Hammond Reef deposit in Western Ontario; and the Qaiqtuq gold project, an 866 square kilometer land package located near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.
Solstice’s Lithium properties include the Stewart Lake project, a 268 square kilometer exploration package in Central Ontario. Its most recent acquisition, announced on November 2, was a 31 kilometer land position in the Quetico Lithium District in Ontario.
The company has not made any announcements in the past week.
FAQs for TSXV stocks
What is the difference between the TSX and TSXV?
The TSX, or Toronto Stock Exchange, is used by senior companies with larger market caps, while the TSXV, or TSX Venture Exchange, is used by smaller-cap companies. Companies listed on the TSXV can graduate to the senior exchange.
How many companies are listed on the TSXV?
As of September 2023, there were 1,713 companies listed on the TSXV, 953 of which were mining companies. Comparatively, the TSX was home to 1,789 companies, with 190 of those being mining companies.
Together the TSX and TSXV host around 40 percent of the world’s public mining companies.
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. The listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000. Accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000, while 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.
Data for this 5 Top Weekly TSXV Performers article was retrieved at 1:00 p.m. PST on December 29, 2023, 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.
Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.