In the second quarter EY’s Canadian Mining Eye index which tracks the performance of 100 TSX and TSX Venture mid-tier and junior companies managed to show gains for the first time in a year.
The index which is constituted of companies with a market value of between $65m and $1.8bn gained 4% during Q2 2015, as compared to a 1% decline in Q1 2015. This was the first quarterly gain since Q2 2014.
The performance comes into the teeth of lower metals prices – gold was down 2% during the quarter, copper dropped 5%, nickel and lead were down 3% and 5% while and zinc slipped 4%.
Bruce Sprague, EY’s Canadian Mining & Metals Leader says despite the slump “a few companies surprised investors with better-than-expected financial results, higher production data, accretive acquisitions and steady progress on planned projects. While companies remain cautious about their capital expenditure and are focusing only on high-return, priority investments – that strategy seems to be paying off.”
Perhaps more encouraging than stock market performance (events since end June are likely to cloud this picture) fundraising by miners are also picking up compared to a dismal 2014.
According to EY Total proceeds of $2.2bn were raised by TSX- and TSXV-listed mining companies during the quarter. While that is down 28% compared to Q1 2015, it represents a jump of 62% as compared to the same period a year ago.
TMAC Resources had a successful IPO to raise $135 million for its Hope Bay gold project, Largo Resources raised $75.2m in a private placement for the development of its Brazlian vanadium mine, Trevali Mining secured $30.6m in a secondary public offering destined for its Caribou Zinc Mine in New Brunswick, Rubicon Minerals executed a $30.2m private placement towards Canadian exploration expenses while First Majestic Silver raised a similar amount privately to advance its Mexican properties.
Source: EY
