While precious metals made a name for themselves as a safe-haven in previous quarters, Q2 has seen investors pulling away from them and favoring the strong US dollar. Even though silver managed to hit a high of US$17.22 per ounce on April 19, it closed down 1.96 percent in Q2.
Many analysts and insiders believe that despite silver’s decline, the grey metal could still outperform gold. Here’s a look at the best junior silver stocks making the most gains year-to-date.
The list below was generated on July 5, 2018 using the Globe and Mail’s market data filter, and it shows the TSXV-listed silver companies that have seen the biggest share price gains year-to-date. Only companies with market caps above US$10 million as of that date are included.
1. Minaurum Gold (TSXV:MGG)
Current price: C$0.60; year-to-date gain: 130.77 percent
Minaurum focuses on the exploration and development of high-grade gold and silver projects in the Southern Sonora State, Oaxaca-Chiapas Region and Guerrero Gold Belt.
The company had been credited with the discovery of over 200 million ounces of silver and 8 million ounces of gold in Mexico.
On May 8, the company announced that it has successfully raised US$4,792,500 in its first tranche of a total US$6-million non-brokered private placement. A total of 10,650,000 units were issued at a price of US$0.45 per unit with proceeds going to fund the company’s ongoing exploration program at the Alamos Silver project in Sonora State, Mexico.
At the beginning of June, Minaurum reported that it discovered three new veins (Pulpito, Cotera and Ana) within its Alamos Silver Project in Mexico.
“We are excited to find three new veins carrying high silver grades in our newly acquired claims and continue to seek others throughout our project. While we wait for permits for an aggressively expanded drill program, we look forward to updating the market with our ongoing exploration results,” stated Darrell Rader, president and CEO of Minaurum.
2. SilverCrest Metals (TSXV:SIL,OTCOX:SVCMF)
Current price: C$2.79; year-to-date gain: 51.63 percent
SilverCrest Metals is a metals exploration company located in Vancouver, BC, that is focused on new discoveries, value-added acquisitions and targeting production in Mexico’s historic precious metal districts.
The company is the first to drill test the historic, high-grade Las Chispas silver-gold project, which used to be a precious metals producer.
On April 17, SilverCrest announced drill results from the Luigi Vein on the Las Chispas property. There are 23 known epithermal veins on the property and the company tested ten them, all of which have drill-intersected high-grade mineralization.
“With the addition of the Luigi Vein, we continue to grow our portfolio of high-grade mineralized veins and are beginning to understand the “nature of multiples” when it comes to projecting high-grade previous drill-intercepts in adjacent veins on to new discoveries. This is the tenth high-grade vein we have delineated in the district, which is immediately adjacent to the Las