Gold slumped in Q3 as it retreated from near-record highs in the first half of 2023, but gained in October as conflict hit the Middle East.
Gold has been on a wild ride in 2023. It set a peak of US$2,049.92 at the beginning of May, but through the second and third quarter of the year slumped to a yearly low of US$1,820.01 on October 4 following news the Fed was eyeing higher-for-longer interest rate hikes.
However, with escalating tensions in the Middle East following the start of a conflict between Israel and Hamas, investors have sought the safety of the yellow metal, causing it to spike to over US$1,950 during intraday trading on October 18.
Even though gold has gone through a roller coaster ride in 2023, it has maintained a historically strong price throughout the year. However, it hasn’t translated to huge gains for gold stocks, with some analysts suggesting the sector is largely undervalued.
The five stocks below have seen the largest share price gains in the gold sector year-to-date on the TSX. The list was generated on October 18, 2023, using TradingView’s stock screener, and all companies listed had market caps above C$50 million at that time.
1. Calibre Mining (TSX:CXB)
Year-to-date gain: 68.13 percent; market cap: C$668.67 million; current share price: C$1.53
Calibre Mining is a growth-focused mid-tier gold producer focused on the Americas with assets at every stage of development, from exploration to production. The company currently has four gold mines in Nicaragua: Limon, Libertad, Pavon and Eastern Borosi. Additionally, it has the Pan gold mine in Nevada, US, and several development and exploration projects in Nicaragua, Nevada and Washington state.
Shares in the company have performed well since the start of the year following a series of strong financial results, with Q3 highlights indicating it has increased cash on hand to US$97 million and had a fourth consecutive quarter of record production totals, including a year-over-year increase of 50 percent to 73,485 ounces compared to 49,081 ounces in the previous period. Production totals were further supported by the opening of the Eastern Borosi gold-silver mine in Nicaragua as the company reported on May 30.
Calibre’s performance has been further buoyed by strong results from its exploration this year. The company’s share price began its ascent in January, which saw initial drill results from Calibre’s Golden Eagle project in Nevada project, including a highlight of 4.3 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold over 92.4 meters. As for its Limon mine complex in Nicaragua, May assays from Limon’s Talavera deposit included a highlight of indicated 15.46 g/t over 6.7 meters, and September exploration news from the mine’s Atravesada underground deposit included a highlight of 9.67 g/t over 13.3 meters. The company also announced on September 18 it had delineated another open pit gold deposit 5 kilometers from its Libertad mine site with indicated and inferred resources of 161,000 ounces.
2. China Gold International Resources (TSX:CGG)
Year-to-date gain: 55.32 percent; market cap: C$2.43 billion; current share price: C$6.14
China Gold International Resources is a gold and base metal mining company with two key mining sites in China: the Chang Shan Hao gold mine in Inner Mongolia and the Jiama copper-gold polymetallic mine in Tibet.
Shares in the company have traded higher since the beginning of the year and have largely tracked the price of gold as it reached near record high prices from March to May, and were helped along on March 30, when the company announced a special dividend as part of a lackluster 2022 year-end report. The dividend was priced at US$0.37 per common share and was paid out June 15.
On March 31, the company announced production had been suspended at its Jiama copper-gold polymetallic mine due to a tailings pond overflow; while share prices remained relatively stable, they saw a steep drop after a follow-up report on May 5 indicating resumption of production at the site was uncertain, and it was withdrawing its annual production guidance for 2023.
China Gold’s Q2 financial report released on August 14, its most recent news, indicated large drops in revenue and income attributable to the suspension of the Jiama Mine. It updated shareholders that repairs at the site were nearing completion but gave no indication when operations would resume.
3. Dundee Precious Metals (TSX:DPM)
Year-to-date gain: 30.56 percent; market cap: C$1.58 billion; current share price: C$8.63
Dundee Precious Metals is a gold mining company with a global asset portfolio, operating in Bulgaria, Namibia, Ecuador and Serbia. Its focus is on delivering value through innovation, growth and environmental, social and governance principles.
The company has seen a strong performance since the beginning of the year following the release of its 2022 financial results on January 10, which indicated the company had produced 273,100 ounces of gold for the year. Year-to-date totals are inline with production guidance and through the end of the third quarter have yielded 219,000 ounces of gold and 101,000 metric tons of copper.
In addition to its strong financial performance, throughout the year Dundee made several exploration announcements. The company’s share price jumped on February 27, when it announced the results from a drilling program at the Tierras Coloradas project in Ecuador, which included a bonanza grade intercept of 46.09 g/t gold over 17.3 meters. On July 11, the company reported assay results from its drilling program at Čoka Rakita in Eastern Serbia, including intercepts with visible gold up to 60.56 g/t over 3 meters.
4. Lundin Gold (TSX:LUG)
Year-to-date gain: 29.12 percent; market cap: C$4.01 billion; current share price: C$17.38
Lundin Gold is a gold production and exploration company headquartered in Vancouver and focused on the Suarez Basin in Southeast Ecuador. The region hosts Lundin’s Fruta del Norte gold mine, which entered production in 2020 and hosts probable reserves of 5.02 million ounces of gold at 8.7 g/t. Lundin also owns an additional 27 exploration concessions within the Suarez Basin.
Lundin’s strong performance began in earnest with the establishment of semi-annual dividend payments in August 2022, which were upgraded to quarterly this past August, along with a series of positive financial results starting in Q3 2022 and full year 2022 production of 476,329 ounces of gold.
These strong results have continued throughout 2023 with Q1 reaching a record quarterly production of 140,021 ounces and Q2results showing record cash flow of US$132 million. The company announced it will release its Q3 report on November 1.
Shares also saw gains off an announcement on January 5 that Lundin had made an early repayment of a US$207.5 million financing package provided by Orion Mine Finance Group and Blackstone Tactical Opportunities.
5. Kinross Gold (TSX:K)
Year-to-date gain: 27.46 percent; market cap: C$8.58 billion; current share price: C$7.24
Kinross Gold is a senior gold mining company with a global portfolio of projects including operations in the United States, Brazil, Mauritania, Chile and Canada. The company produced 1,957,237 ounces of gold in 2022 and reported proven and probable mineral reserves of 25.5 million ounces across all assets.
Shares in Kinross gold surged to a year-to-date high of C$7.42 in the first half of the year as gold reacted to the banking crisis in the United States. It has largely tracked with the price of gold but has found more stability due to favorable financial results.
Results from its Q1 report on May 9 showed Kinross produced 466,022 ounces for the quarter, which the company said was on track to meet its 2023 full year guidance of 2.1 million ounces. It has remained on track as of its Q2 report, released August 2, in which Kinross announced quarterly production of 555,036 ounces, a 22 percent increase over the same period in 2022.
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
