TSXV closes lower during Feb 21-24 trading week

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index retreated by 10.92 points or 1.7% over the holiday-shortened Feb 21-24 trading session, ending at 616.86.

The week’s top value gainer was Sigma Lithium which surged on speculation that Tesla is in takeover talks with the Brazil-focused lithium developer. The stock closed $7.93 higher at $47.77 on Friday following media reports citing unnamed sources that Elon Musk has been “speaking with potential advisers about a bid.” Sigma’s largest shareholder, 46%-owner Brazilian private equity fund A10 Investimentos, was reported to have been exploring the potential for a sale of the company while taking interest from miners and carmakers alike. Discussions with Tesla, meanwhile, are reportedly in the early stages and may not result in a transaction. The Vancouver-based company is developing the Grota do Cirilo property in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, which is said to be the largest lithium hard-rock asset in the Americas. It has been producing battery-grade lithium concentrate at the project since 2018 on a pilot scale, with phase one output forecast at 36,7000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent per year.

Los Andes Copper was the week’s second-best value performer during a tough market week, adding $1.01 to close at $12.56 on Friday. On Feb. 23, Los Andes reported the results of a prefeasibility study on its Vizcachitas copper mine in Chile, delivering robust economics that rank it as a Tier 1 asset, according to the company. The new mine design incorporates several optimizations, including expanding access works, allowing for a faster ramp-up of production and minimizing uphill material movement and haulage distances. This has reduced the operating capital component and led to a shorter payback. The technical report highlighted a US$2.8-billion post-tax net present value using an 8% discount rate and an internal rate of return of 24%. Preproduction capital costs for Vizcachitas are pegged at US$2.4 billion, with a construction period of 3.3 years. Located within the Andes Mountains in the province of San Felipe, about 150 km northeast of Santiago, Vizcachitas represents a world-class porphyry copper deposit and one of the largest of its kind not controlled by the majors in the Americas.

ATAC Resources was the week’s top-traded issue, with 19.8 million shares changing hands. The stock closed the week at 13¢ apiece, up 4¢ or 44%. The company was in play following an unsolicited takeover offer by Victoria Gold that was later surpassed by Hecla Mining. On Feb. 21, ATAC and Hecla signed a non-binding letter of intent to see the latter acquire the Rackla and Connaught projects in the Yukon. Hecla, the largest silver producer in the U.S., is developing a mine in Yukon’s Keno Hill silver district after acquiring Alexco Resources last year.