What happened to Mining Stocks since PDAC?

After more than 2 months since the PDAC in Toronto, the last major mining conference before the lockdown, we take this opportunity to examine the performance of the mining stocks that were interviewed during the event.

The majority of the companies have enjoyed positive runs during the past 2 months for various reasons. Gold equities continue to lead the market but silver stocks are also starting to shine. Another bright spot in the metals market is uranium that, after long years of depressing runs, has seen its spot prices climb from the bottom. Supply shortage has been the story: The closure of the world’s biggest uranium mine, Cigar Lake of Cameco, Canada now only contributes 14 million pounds per year of supply. The effects on supply due to COVID-19 fears were seen with South Africa closing all of its mining operations and Namibia also reducing its supply.

Furthermore, Kazakhstan imposed restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak. Kazatomprom, world’s largest producer and seller of uranium, anticipated that its 2020 output to be 16% less than the previous guidance for the year. The production amount equates to 10.4 million pounds, comparable to 8% of global supply. Due to the stance taken by the Kazakhstan government, uranium prices shot up to US$29.45/lb on 9 April 2020.

There was no coincidence that most of the Uranium stocks benefited from such developments. IsoEnergy, Blue Sky Uranium and Goviex all enjoyed over 40% gain in this time.

Company	Exch.	Symbol	Project Location	Metal Focus	Stage	15-Mar	1-Jun	%
Lomiko	TSXV	LMR	Quebec	Graphite, Lithium	Explorer	0.03	0.035	16%
Sierra Metals	TSX	SMT	Latin America	Silver,Copper,Zinc	Producer	1.17	1.12	-4.20%
Trilogy	TSX	TMQ	Alaska	Copper	Developer	1.84	2.02	9.70%
Nouveau Monde	TSXV	NOU	Quebec	Graphite	Developer	0.185	0.2	8%
Goviex Uranium	TSXV	GXU	Africa	Uranium	Explorer	0.1	0.14	40%
Frontier Lithium	TSXV	FL	ON	Lithium	Explorer	0.185	0.24	29%
Clean Air Metals	TSXV	AIR	Thunder Bay, ON	PGE	Explorer	N/A	0.34	just listed
Golden Minerals	TSX	AUMN	Mexico, Argentina	Gold, Silver	Explorer	0.23	0.54	135%
Avino Silver	TSX	ASM	Mexico	Silver	Producer	0.41	1.1	168%
Minera Alamos	TSXV	MAI	Mexico	Gold	Developer	0.2	0.43	115%
IsoEnergy	TSXV	ISO	Saskatchewan	Uranium	Explorer	0.3	0.69	130%
Blue Sky Uranium	TSXV	BSK	Argentina	Uranium	Explorer	0.055	0.155	182%
Golden Arrow	TSXV	GRG	Chile, Argentina	Gold, Silver	Explorer	0.1	0.155	55%
First Vanadium	TSXV	FVAN	Nevada, Arizona	Vanadium, Gold	Explorer	0.125	0.185	48%
NewRange	TSXV	NRG	Nevada	Gold	Explorer	0.09	0.17	89%
Westhaven	TSXV	WHN	Merritt, BC	Gold	Explorer	0.445	0.75	69%
Vizsla Resources	TSXV	VZLA	Mexico	Gold, Silver	Explorer	0.295	0.48	63%
Murchison	TSXV	MUR	Saskatchewan	Base metals	Explorer	0.09	0.8	789%
Copper Fox	TSXV	CUU	BC, Arizona	Copper	Developer	0.06	0.09	50%
Sokoman	TSXV	SIC	Newfoundland	Gold	Explorer	0.07	0.11	57%
Imperial Mining	TSXV	IPG	Quebec	Copper, Zn	Explorer	0.05	0.045	-10%
Scottie	TSXV	SCOT	Golden Triangle, BC	Gold	Explorer	0.13	0.265	104%
Renforth	CSE	RFR	Quebec	Gold	Explorer	0.035	0.04	14%
Klondike Gold	TSXV	KG	Yukon	Gold	Explorer	0.2	0.29	45%
Braveheart	TSXV	BHT	BC	Gold, Copper	Explorer	0.085	0.055	-35%

With smart money flowing back to the gold & silver sectors, the juniors are starting to benefit now after the producers. Westhaven (TSXV:WHN) put out strong results recently and continued drilling, making it one promising explorer in the Yukon.

Minera Alamos (TSXV:MAI) is making steady progress towards production, the company has been revalued and thus had a very positive return at more than double.

One special note on the company Clean Air Metals, (TSXV:AIR) which started trading recently, the company has been building up a lot of interest because of its strong management team.  It raised $15M back in February in order to look for PGE, Copper and Nickel in Thunder Bay, a region that is famous for its mining and exploration history.

With most mining stocks starting to take off, the metals market is shaping to be very profitable for investors while the majority of the economy is still in recession.

Base Metals Copper Energy Metals Gold Industrial Metals Mining Nickel Precious Metals Silver Uranium