The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) fell 17.97 points last week to close at 537.59. Meanwhile, the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) lost 83.67 points to close at 22,311.3.
Statistics Canada released its July labor force survey on Friday (August 9). In the announcement, the agency indicates that the employment situation in Canada remained flat for the third consecutive month, with just 2,800 jobs lost.
Losses mainly occurred in the private sector, with wholesale and retail trade shedding 44,000 jobs.
The declines were offset by gains in public administration. Overall, there was a 0.2 percent decrease in the employment rate to 60.9 percent, while the unemployment rate was unchanged from June at 6.4 percent.
South of the border, markets calmed following the US Department of Labor’s weekly jobless claims report on Thursday (August 8), which indicated that fewer claims were made than expected. Analysts had been expecting 240,000 initial jobless claims, but the data shows only 233,000 claims, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week.
The report comes just one week after the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its employment situation summary, which showed a steeper increase to payroll than expected. The data helped to spark a selloff in US equities that spread to global markets and was exacerbated as investors tried to cover bets made through carry trades.
After a week of high volatility, markets closed Friday with gains. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) climbed 3.75 percent to reach 5,344.15 points, the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) surged 6.13 percent to 18,513.1 points and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) saw a modest increase of 1.13 percent to hit 39,497.55 points.
The S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) climbed 1.69 percent to 542.09. However, precious metals didn’t do as well, with gold falling 0.52 percent to US$2,429 per ounce, and silver shedding 3.88 percent to come in at US$27.44 per ounce.
How did small-cap mining stocks on the TSX Venture Exchange perform? Here are the top five gainers.
1. Jervois Global (TSXV:JRV)
Weekly gain: 50 percent; market cap: C$31.81 million; share price: C$0.015
Jervois Global is working to advance a global portfolio of nickel and cobalt projects. It owns the Idaho Cobalt Operations in the US, at which it suspended mine construction in 2023 due to low cobalt prices.
According to Jervois, the Idaho Cobalt Operations have the largest US cobalt resource. A 2020 feasibility study shows that they have a measured and indicated resource of 50.1 million pounds of cobalt from 5.24 million metric tons grading 0.44 percent, with inferred values of 12 million pounds of cobalt from 1.57 million metric tons grading 0.35 percent.
The company announced in June 2023 that it had entered into a US$15 million agreement through the US Department of Defense’s Defense Production Act for exploration activities at its property.
In its most recent announcement from the project, released on July 31, Jervois reported that extensional drilling at the Idaho Cobalt Operations had shown positive resource growth potential, with cobalt, gold and copper mineralization at depth. In the announcement, the company provides a highlighted result of 1.1 percent cobalt, 1.18 percent gold and 0.69 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold over 1.8 meters.
2. Dynasty Gold (TSXV:DYG)
Weekly gain: 28.57 percent; market cap: C$10.7 million; share price: C$0.18
Dynasty Gold is an exploration company focused on its Thundercloud gold project in the Wabigoon greenstone belt of Western Ontario, Canada. The company acquired the 2,250 hectare project from Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.A,TECK.B,NYSE:TECK) in September 2021. Past exploration work on the site identified two primary mineralization zones, Pelham and West Contact. According to a 2021 feasibility study, Pelham hosts an inferred resource of 182,000 ounces of gold from 4.14 million metric tons at an average grade of 1.37 g/t gold.
The most recent news from Thundercloud came on July 30, when Dynasty announced the completion of 1,320 meters of drilling across eight holes. The company encountered pyrite at various depths, including strong pyrite veining in one core below 130 meters. The drill holes were completed as part of a larger 4,000 meter program that commenced on July 11 to test down-dip extensions in the Pelham zone and confirm trench assays at the West Contact zone.
3. Golconda Gold (TSXV:GG)
Weekly gain: 21.05 percent; market cap: C$22.81 million; share price: C$0.345
Golconda Gold is a gold production company with mining operations in New Mexico, US, and South Africa.
The company acquired the Galaxy mine near Barberton, South Africa, in 2015. It is one of the oldest mines in the country. Golconda expanded its holdings to the US in May 2021, when it acquired the Summit mine and Banner mill, located in Grant County, New Mexico. The site has hosted mining activities since the late 1800s.
In mid-May, Golconda announced it had begun mining the Princeton Top deposit at Galaxy, a move it said will help it achieve its goal of doubling gold production in 2024.
Its most recent news came on May 29 with the release of its Q1 financial and operating results. Golconda increased its production in Q1, during which time it processed 1,095 metric tons of concentrate at an average grade of 42.8 g/t gold for 1,507 gold ounces. The amount represents an increase of 15 percent over the 1,314 ounces produced in the previous quarter. The company also said it generated C$2.2 million from the sale of 1,099 ounces of gold.
4. AuMEGA Metals (TSXV:AUM)
Weekly gain: 20 percent; market cap: C$21.43 million; share price: C$0.12
AuMEGA Metals is a gold exploration company focused on the advancement of a 110 kilometer long, district-scale land package along the Cape Ray shear zone in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
In addition to its projects within the shear zone, the company owns the Hermitage project, which includes a 27 kilometer long portion of the Hermitage Flexure crustal structure.
On July 31, the company reported the completion of the first phase of its 2024 drill program, which is focused on new targets in the Central zone at Cape Ray; it is expecting assay results in the coming weeks. AuMEGA said the drill program marks the first time in two years it has carried out diamond drilling within the resource corridor.
The next phase of the program will be focused on new targets at the Malachite project, building on work completed in the winter that resulted in grades of up to 627 parts per billion gold and 1.99 percent copper at near-surface depth.
AuMEGA also announced it has commenced greenfield till surveying at the Intersection project within the Cape Ray shear zone. This is the first exploration work carried out at the highly prospective zone.
5. Goldstorm Metals (TSXV:GSTM)
Weekly gain: 19.23 percent; market cap: C$12.16 million; share price: C$0.155
Goldstorm Metals is an exploration company focused on advancing its flagship Crown gold-silver property within the prolific Golden Triangle in BC, Canada. The property is composed of seven concessions across 16,4469 hectares in a region that hosts several large operations, including Newmont’s (TSX:NGT,NYSE:NEM) Brucejack mine.
Exploration at the Crown project has so far been concentrated on four primary project areas — Orion, Fairweather, Delta and Electrum — with large portions of the property being unexplored.
The company’s most recent news came on July 31, when it announced the start of diamond drilling at the Electrum area of Crown. Phase 1 of the program will see the completion of 1,200 meters of drilling, starting with three drill holes testing a dome-shaped target on the southern portion of the property.
This drilling is building on results from Goldstorm’s 2023 exploration program, during which drilling ‘discovered both high-grade vein-type and porphyry style gold-silver mineralization.’ The first was seen in a hole that encountered 57.34 g/t gold and 214.27 g/t silver over 2.1 meters, and the second in a drill hole that graded 0.77 g/t gold and 4.43 g/t silver over 110 meters, including 1.13 g/t gold and 6.02 g/t silver over 61.5 meters.
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 June 2024, there were 1,630 companies listed on the TSXV, 925 of which were mining companies. Comparatively, the TSX was home to 1,806 companies, with 188 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 11:00 am PST on August 2, 2024, 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 were 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.
