Gold has seen astonishing gains in 2024, rising nearly 30 percent and breaking all time prices along the way. Its most recent record was set at US$2,682.79 per ounce on September 26.
The new record came just days after the US Federal Reserve shifted its fiscal policy as post-pandemic inflation figures neared the central bank’s target rate of 2 percent. This, along with a softening job market caused the Fed to make an outsized cut to its benchmark rate and slashed 50 basis points.
However, fiscal policy wasn’t the only factor affecting gold prices in 2024. Continued central bank gold buying provided critical support for much of the year and rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East pushed investors toward the safety of the precious metal.
How have rising gold prices affected equity markets? These five junior gold companies are the best performers so far this year. Data was retrieved on October 10, 2024, using TradingView’s stock screener, and only companies with market capitalizations greater than C$10 million are included.
1. Adyton Resources (TSXV:ADY)
Year-to-date gain: 1,800 percentMarket cap: C$38.28 millionShare price: C$0.19
Adyton Resources is working to advance the Feni Island and Fergusson Island gold projects in Papua New Guinea.
The Feni Island site has seen historic exploration, with 212 holes drilled over 18,813 meters. While limited work has been conducted by Adyton, a 2021 resource estimate shows an inferred resource of 1.46 million ounces of gold. The company has been working to expand its gold resource and explore for copper at greater depths than previous exploration.
Shares of Adyton saw a 1,450 percent gain in the first four months of the year, culminating in its largest single jump of 244 percent following news in late April that it had closed on C$1.5 million in financing and restarted exploration at Feni Island. The company said the initial focus would be to reprocess and reinterpret historical data with modern geophysical algorithms in order to provide optimized locations for detailed follow-up programs.
The most recent update from Feni Island came on August 14, when Adyton announced it had commenced fieldwork at the site. The planned work included geological reconnaissance, sampling, mapping and verification work. The company said in addition to targeting the existing resource area, it would also explore areas recently identified through a review of historical data.
Additionally, the company said it had hired Dr. Chris Bowden, as COO who previously worked as a senior geologist with Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN,OTCQX:IVPAF).
While Feni Island has been its primary focus, Adyton has also been working to raise capital for its Fergusson Island project. On May 13, the company entered into a binding investment and development agreement with East Vision International Holdings. The deal will see East Vision contribute US$8.5 million in funding for project costs, while a further US$1 million will go to Adyton. East Vision will have the option to gain a 50 percent stake in the asset.
The project consists of two advanced exploration licenses for the Wapolu and Gameta targets, which host a combined indicated resource of 173,000 ounces of gold and an inferred resource of 540,000 ounces of gold.
Most recently, Adyton announced it had completed a premium to market US$5 million private placement. The company said it would be using funds for exploration activities at Feni Island as well as working capital and general purposes.
Adyton’s share price reached a year-to-date high of C$0.20 on October 9.
2. Black Mammoth Metals (TSXV:BMM)
Year-to-date gain: 958.82 percentMarket cap: C$24.59 millionShare price: C$0.90
Black Mammoth Metals is a gold explorer working to advance its US properties in Nevada, Idaho and California.
Its Happy Cat gold property is located in the Ravenswood Mining District in Ladner County, Nevada. The site covers about 1,213 hectares and hosts an approximately 4 square kilometer area where the company has identified a potential alteration zone. Black Mammoth completed ground gravity and magnetic surveys at the site in 2023.
The company also owns the Blanco Creek gold property in the Elk Creek Mining District in Central Idaho. The site hosts three historic mines along 3,550 meters of strike length.
In January, Black Mammoth acquired the America Mine property as part of its acquisition of IDA Mining. The site hosts a historical open-pit heap-leach gold and silver mine and is located in San Bernardino, California.
On March 28, the company announced that its subsidiary, Antelope Creek, had entered into an option agreement with Gold Royalty (NYSE:GROY) subsidiary Nevada Select Royalty. Nevada Select is optioning the Quito gold property in Nevada to Antelope Creek for payments totaling US$900,000 over four years.
On September 10, Black Mammoth reported Antelope Creek had signed a letter of intent with an arm’s length vendor to acquire the Raven property at Ravenswood, which extends the company’s land holdings in the area to 2,650 hectares.
Additionally, Black Mammoth signed an agreement to acquire the vendor’s Callaghan property as well as signing an option agreement with Nevada Select Royalty to earn a 100 percent interest in the neighboring Charlie property, which will bring Black Mammoth’s position to 1,604 hectares. Black Mammoth announced the completion of the deals on September 24.
Shares of Black Mammoth reached a year-to-date high of C$1.25 on June 12.
3. Falco Resources (TSXV:FPC)
Year-to-date gain: 212.5 percentMarket cap: C$102.25 millionShare price: C$0.375
Falco Resources is an exploration and development company operating within the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Québec, Canada. Its flagship asset is the Horne 5 polymetallic gold project, which consists of 67,000 hectares of land in the Noranda mining camp, and includes 13 historic gold and base metals mining sites, including the Horne mine.
A 2021 feasibility study estimates that the project’s measured and indicated resources stand at 4.89 million ounces of gold, 48.63 million ounces of silver, 176,982 MT of copper and 839,937 MT of zinc.
Shares of Falco saw gains early in the year following a news release on January 24, when the company announced it had executed an operating license and indemnity agreement with Glencore (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF). Under the terms of the deal, Falco will gain access to a portion of lands that it will use to advance Horne 5.
The deal will also establish a technical committee to ensure that operations at Horne 5 do not interfere with Glencore’s Horne smelter. Additionally, Glencore will gain the right to require remediation, suspension or risk mitigation in order to protect its Horne smelter. Glencore will also have the right to a seat on Falco’s board of directors.
On March 27, Falco confirmed the admissibility of an environmental impact assessment from the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks and would be able to move forward with a public hearing process for the asset.
The most recent update came on October 4, when Falco reported that the public hearing process had been completed. In the announcement, the company said that more than 90 briefs were filed with the Commission of Inquiry and noted that the proceedings were respectful and constructive.
It said the next steps would be to review and address concerns raised in the hearings and would meet with the advisory committee to identify possible solutions and make improvements to the project. The final report is due to be sent to the ministry by December 26, with the publication set for mid-January 2025.
4. Mawson Gold (TSXV:MAW)
Year-to-date gain: 202.86 percentMarket cap: C$314.35 millionShare price: C$1.06
Mawson Gold is a gold exploration company that has spent 2024 working to advance its flagship Sunday Creek project in Australia through its subsidiary Southern Cross Gold (ASX:SXG).
Mawson has held a 48.85 percent stake in Southern Cross since spinning it out in 2021. On July 30, Mawson announced it had entered into a binding scheme implementation agreement to acquire all ordinary shares not already owned by Mawson, providing 100 percent ownership of Southern Cross.
The Sunday Creek project is located 60 kilometers north of Melbourne, Australia, and covers an area of 19,385 hectares. It hosted previous gold mining between 1880 and 1920, and during the 1990s, it saw exploration that focused on shallow, previously mined workings.
To date, the company still needs to prepare a resource estimate for Sunday Creek, but exploration at the site has revealed several high-quality assays. On August 27, the company reported a highlighted intercept from below the Golden Dyke mine area of 11.3 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold over 1.8 meters, including an intersection of 44.4 g/t gold over 0.4 meters.
The company said the results significantly extend the exploration target area and demonstrate a system that continues almost half a kilometer below the most prolific mine in the Sunday Creek gold field.
This was followed on September 26, when the company reported high-grade mineralization at the Apollo prospect, with targets generated through AI-assisted mineral discovery tools. The new target, located 200 meters east of the main drilling area, produced a highlighted sample with 2.6 g/t gold over 21 meters, including an intersection of 9.6 g/t over 2.5 meters.
Shares in Mawson Gold reached a year-to-date high of C$1.09 on October 7.
5. Goldshore Resources (TSXV:GSHR)
Year-to-date gain: 186.96 percentMarket cap: C$96.13 millionShare price: C$0.33
Goldshore Resources is an exploration company focused on its flagship Moss gold project in Western Ontario, Canada. The company acquired the property in 2021 from Wesdome Gold (TSX:WDO,OTCQX:WDOFF).
Historic prospecting at the Moss site from the late 1800s to the 1950s resulted in multiple high-grade discoveries, as well as limited mining. More extensive exploration started at the Snodgrass lake prospect in the 1970s, when it was under the ownership of Falconbridge Exploration, and exploration was continued by various companies up until the 2000s.
Goldshore’s most recent update from the project came on September 10, when the company provided results from its 2,500 meter summer drill program carried out between June 26 and July 24. The announcement said it encountered a 6 to 8 meter wide shear zone with nuggety gold mineralization at the Boundary Zone. The best intercept from the program was 1.27 g/t gold over 13.3 meters.
The company also provided an update on its preliminary economic assessment, saying that G Mining Service completed a site visit on July 23 to identify potential infrastructure sites. It is also evaluating different mining and milling scenarios to identify the optimal project for the study. Goldshore did not provide an estimated date for the completion of the report.
Shares in Goldshore reached a year-to-date high of C$0.39 on September 25 alongside a rise in the gold price.
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
