The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) declined 23.41 points last week to close at 588.25.
Gold was under pressure following reports on Friday (June 7) that the People’s Bank of China paused purchases of gold in May, ending an 18 month spree. Central bank buying has provided critical support for gold in 2023 and 2024.
In the first quarter of the year, China added 189 metric tons (MT) of the yellow metal to its reserves, but as gold sector expert Jan Nieuwenhuijs notes in a May 22 article, much of the Asian nation's buying has gone unreported.
Gold saw additional losses on Friday as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics delivered its May jobs report. It indicates that the country's workforce remains resilient, adding 272,000 jobs for the month, higher than the 185,000 expected.
This news has lowered the chances of a September rate cut from the Federal Reserve as it continues to work toward reducing inflation to its target of 2 percent. The central bank’s next Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which will run from June 11 to 12, will coincide with the release of May consumer price index data out of the US.
Statistics Canada released its May Labor Force Survey this past Friday. In the report, the agency indicates there was little growth in the labor market during the month, with just 27,000 jobs added for the period. The unemployment rate climbed slightly to 6.2 percent, up 0.1 percent on a monthly basis and 0.9 percent from a year ago.
Against that backdrop, gold traded sharply lower on Friday, slipping more than 2.5 percent toward the US$2,310 per ounce mark. Silver was down more than 5 percent, falling to under US$29.65 per ounce.
Read on to learn about the top five gainers on the TSX Venture Exchange last week.
1. European Energy Metals (TSXV:FIN)
Weekly gain: 71.43 percent; market cap: C$10.23 million; share price: C$0.30
European Energy Metals is an exploration company primarily focused on the advancement of lithium, cesium and tantalum projects in Finland. Its Finnish properties include the Nabba project, which consists of an 11,960 hectare license located in an area of Northern Finland that has known lithium deposits. Also within the region is the company's Lappajarvi project, which is comprised of two licenses that cover 212,000 hectares and host over 190 pegamatite occurrences.
Shares of European Energy saw gains this past week following an announcement on Tuesday (June 4) that it has initiated a 2024 field exploration program. The work will follow up on results from a 2023 program that featured the discovery of the Kyrola deposit at Nabba. The deposit yielded rock samples containing up to 3.84 percent lithium dioxide.
2. American Creek Resources (TSXV:AMK)
Weekly gain: 54.71 percent; market cap: C$53.88 million; share price: C$0.185
American Creek Resources is a junior exploration company with a 20 percent interest in the Treaty Creek project, located within the Golden Triangle in BC, Canada. The remainder of the project is owned by Tudor Gold (TSXV:TUD,OTC Pink:TDRRF) with 60 percent and Teuton Resources (TSXV:TUO,OTCQB:TEUTF) with 20 percent.
The current focus for the project is on the Goldstorm zone. In an update on April 9, Tudor announced a mineral resource estimate showing indicated quantities of 21.66 million ounces of gold grading 0.92 grams per MT (g/t), 128.73 million ounces of silver at 5.48 g/t and 2.87 billion pounds of copper at 0.18 percent from 730.2 million MT of ore.
The most recent news from the project came on May 10, when a 2024 exploration program began at the site. In the announcement, American Creek said drilling has been designed to upgrade the property's resource estimate, with drills to be mobilized outside the known limits of the Goldstorm deposit.
American Creek was on the rise after Thursday's (June 6) news that it has entered into a non-binding agreement to be acquired by Cunningham Mining. The terms would see Cunningham pay C$0.43 per common share of American Creek, a 274 percent premium over the company's Wednesday (June 5) closing price of C$0.115.
3. Sage Potash (TSXV:SAGE)
Weekly gain: 27.66 percent; market cap: C$14.81 million; share price: C$0.30
Sage Potash is a potash exploration company working to advance its portfolio of mineral holdings in Utah’s Paradox Basin in the US. Historic oil and gas exploration in the basin dating back a century discovered the potential for the potash beds, but they were too deep for mining methods at the time. Sage has since confirmed their presence through its own exploration.
In February 2023, the company reported an inferred mineral resource estimate of up to 159.3 million MT of in-place sylvinite from the upper potash bed and up to 120.2 million MT of sylvinite from the lower potash bed.
The company saw gains this past week after announcing on June 1 that it had closed a private placement of 13.5 million shares to raise gross proceeds of C$1,822,500. The company said it will use the funds to advance its mineral properties and for general administration expenses.
4. Resouro Strategic Metals (TSXV:RSM)
Weekly gain: 26.88 percent; market cap: C$35.16 million; share price: C$0.59
Resouro Strategic Metals is a polymetallic explorer and developer advancing its mineral properties in Brazil.
Its Tiros rare earths and titanium project is located in Minas Gerais, and is comprised of 17 exploration permits covering an area of 450 square kilometers. The company’s Novo Mundo gold project is located in the Alta Floresta gold province in Central Brazil and consists of three licenses totaling 167 square kilometers.
Shares of Resouro were up this past week after the company provided an update on Tuesday saying it has restarted drilling operations at Tiros. It also provided its latest assay results from Tiros, including a highlighted intersection with values of 16.11 percent titanium oxide, 3,229 parts per million (ppm) neodymium and praseodymium and 6,789 ppm total rare earth oxides over 19.8 meters.
5. Midnight Sun Mining (TSXV:MMA)
Weekly gain: 26.56 percent; market cap: C$46.58 million; share price: C$0.405
Midnight Sun Mining is a copper exploration company focused on advancing its flagship Solwezi project in Zambia.
The property is located within the Zambia-Congo Copperbelt and covers 506 square kilometers; it hosts several mineral targets within four separate areas that the company believes hosts unique geological systems. The zones are named Dumbwa, Mitu, Kazhiba and Crunch Zone. This past February, Midnight Sun signed an earn-in agreement with artificial intelligence exploration company KoBold Metals for the Dumbwa zone. Under the terms of the agreement, KoBold can earn up to a 75 percent stake by incurring US$15 million in expenditures.
The company also announced in April that it would be working with First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM,OTC Pink:FQVLF) to further exploration work across the Solwezi project, starting at the Kazhiba zone in Q2. Previous exploration at the site produced a highlighted intercept of 5.71 percent copper over 14.2 meters.
Midnight Sun announced this past Tuesday that it has appointed Margot Naudie to its advisory board. Naudie brings 25 years of capital markets experience as a senior portfolio manager focused on natural resources.
Data for this 5 Top Weekly TSXV Performers article was retrieved at 1:00 p.m. PST on June 7, 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.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.