Miners' Performance

Last update with graphs of Feb 24, 2023
Next update planned after Mar 31, 2023

The 'gold miner pulse' page provides a fundamental view of how miners are valued in relation to precious metals. Indexes are calculated on miners of the gold miner pulse database and a performance dispersion graph gives a fair idea on how differently those miners performed. 
This Miners' Performance page indicates the individual performance of all miners in the GMP database.

Reference date

Miner performance calculated is relative to the start of the calculation of the GMP based gold miners and silver miners index on Nov 19, 2010. For your information: gold closed at US$1342/oz and silver at US$27.07/oz on that day.

Bear market damage

With hindsight: from early 2011 onward miners started lagging precious metals in their ascent to all time highs. The harsh miner bear market decimated the majority of explorers. Acquisitions continued, but hefty premiums no longer were paid. There have been some bankruptcies among miners and some more delisting of explorers running low on cash and assets. You find an overview of list compositions changes at the end.

Today's statistics

Today the median loss for the miners in the database stands at -59.6%, while the average slid into the red again at (-8.8%). The median is the value observed in the middle of the distribution. The average is higher (less negative) because the distribution is slanted due to the few high gains.

The median slid 7.8%). The average dipped into the red (+13.3%).

Compared to last observation on 27 Jan, declines (84) outnumber advances (9) with 1 miner flat within a 1% margin.

Exchange rate

Most quotes are in CAD and likewise all performance graphs illustrate the return in CAD. Several miners among which: B2 Gold (BTG), Barrick (GOLD), Hecla Silver (HL), Coeur d'Alène (CDE) , Newmont Mining (NEM) and Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM) quote in USD. Their performance has been compensated for the long term depreciation of the loonie; in Nov 2010 the CAD exceptionally quoted above parity to the USD.


Redesign
The five 'Quintile' bar graphs overlap by one miner/explorer. This facilitates visually pinpointing any performance gap. The bottom ranking miner of the higher quintile is repeated at the top of the lower quintile. The number of miners or explorers has been kept at 94. 

Some list components didn't quote daily any longer. Without any exception these were penny stocks, valued below CAD 0.10. Their market capitalization was below 10 M CAD. Not surprisingly, these stocks were down over 90%. Weeding out these moribund explorers or miners made it harder for the remaining laggards to break away from the bottom quintile.

Latest / Expected list changes
  • Yamana Gold is going to be acquired by Agnico Eagle and Pan American Silver.
  • GC Mining (previously Grand Columbia Gold) has merged with Aris Mining to form a new Aris Mining Corp.
  • Alexco Resource Corp. (AXU.TO) has been acquired by Hecla Mining. (9-Sep-22)
  • Great Panter Resources will be delisted from TSX (2-Sep-22)
  • Gold Standard Ventures (GSV.TO) was acquired by Orla Mining. (15-Aug-22)
  • Lundin Mining has acquired Josemaria copper-gold project (JOSE) in Argentina for C$625 M
  • Pretium Resources (PVG) was acquired by the Australian Newcrest Mining.
  • Great Bear Resources (GBR.TO) was acquired by Kinross Gold (KGC)
  • Corvus Gold (KOR.TO) has been acquired by Anglogold Ashanti (AU).
  • Radius Gold (RDU.V) has been added in replacement of KOR.
  • Agnico Eagle completed the merger with Kirkland Lake Gold. Sean Boyd comments on Kitco 
Latest new additions or replacements
  • Filo Mining has replacid Kirkland Lake Gold (KL)
  • Wesdome Gold has replaced Pretium Resources (PVG)
  • Radius Gold (RDU.V) has been added in replacement of Corvus Gold KOR
  • Gold Fields is replacing Great Bear Resources (GBR)
  • Bluestone Resources (BSR) replaced JoseMaria..
  • K92 Mining, Freegold Ventures and NGEx Minerals Ltd are being added in replacement of acquired miners AWU, GSV and delisted GPR.

Graphs section

Individual miner performance since Nov 19, 2010. Miners are identified by their TSX trading symbols.

Click any of the graphs to view them at true size

Elite miners on a log axis: gains of +100% till +1000%. Note that we only need one single decade to show the top 14 miners.


It is illustrative that the elite miners graph is trimmed from 14 to the 10 remaining members holding on to their doubling. Yet even there, 9 out of 10 were down since previous observation.

Top quintile: the best 20% of miners



Subtop quintile: the average gain is within the range of this graph


Midrange quintile: By definition, you find the median in the middl of this quintile.


Laggards quintile: did you avoid hefty losses through market timing?


Bottom quintile: 5 miners are down more than 95%
Those are really the basket cases.


For comparison: below you find the elite miners and the top and sub-top quintiles as of 27 Jan (previous observation)

Elite miners on a log axis: gains of +100% till +1000%. Note that we only need one single decade to show the top 14 miners.


Top quintile: the best 20% of miners


Subtop quintile: the average gain is within the range of this graph



Comments and composition changes since 2018:

  • Yamana Gold was going to be acquired by the South African Gold Fields. The deal was terminated by a competing bid of AEM and PAAS.
  • GC Mining (previously Grand Columbia Gold) has merged with Aris Mining to form a new Aris Mining Corp.
  • Alexco Resource Corp. (AXU.TO) has been acquired by Hecla Mining. (9-Sep-22)
  • Great Panter Resources will be delisted from TSX (2-Sep-22)
  • Gold Standard Ventures (GSV.TO) was acquired by Orla Mining. (15-Aug-22)
  • Lundin Mining has acquired Josemaria copper-gold project in Argentina for C$625 M
  • Pretium Resources (PVG) has been acquired by the Australian Newcrest Mining.
  • Great Bear Resources (GBR.TO) has been acquired by Kinross Gold (KGC)
  • Corvus Gold (KOR.TO) has been acquired by Anglogold Ashanti (AU). 
  • Harte Gold (HRT.TO) is delisted. (Gold Royalty Comp. - GROY) is added in replacement
  • Agnico Eagle (AEM) is merging with Kirkland Lake Gold (KL).
  • Typhoon Expl has been renamed to Goldflare Exploration (GOFL.V)
  • Northern Vertex Mining Corp. changed its name to Elevation Gold Mining Corporation (ELVT.V). There also was a 6:1 share roll-back.
  • Telson Resources has been renamed to Atalay Mining (ATLY.V)
  • Fortuna Silver (FVI / FSM) acquired Roxgold (ROX) in a nearly all share deal. 
  • Premier Gold (PG.TO) was acquired by Equinox Gold Corp. (TSX: EQX)
  • Bear Creek Mining (BCM onTSXV) has been added (in replacement of PG)
  • Midas Gold (MAX) changed name to Perpetua Resources (PPTA)
  • Teranga Gold (TGZ) has been acquired by Endeavour Mining. Copper-Gold miner Freeport McMoran is on board as replacement.
  • Monarques Resources (MQR on TXS) has been acquired by Yamana Gold (YRI on TSX, AUY in the US). The stock last quoted on Jan 25, 2021. MQR is dropped from the list.
  • Radisson Mining Resources (RDS on TSXV) was added (in replacement of MQR)
  • Auryn Resources (AUG.TO) and Eastmain Resources (ER.TO) merge to form a new corporation: Fury Gold Mines (FURY.TO and FURY on Nasdaq) which starts trading as of 13 Oct.
  • Alacer Mining was acquired by SSR Mining at market price by a share swap. Trading of ASR was terminated on Sep 19 at the TSX close.
  • Evrim Resources acquired Renaissance Gold. The merger company was named Orogen Royalties with ticker OGN.V (Venture exchange)
  • Maya Gold was renamed to Aya Gold and Silver with the ticker changed to AYA.TO.
  • Zjiin Mining is to acquire Guyana Goldfields (GUY.TO) creating a diversified precious metals producer as reported on June 12. The stock is removed from the database as of Jul 1st.
  • Alio Gold (ALO) replaces Rye Patch Gold (RPM) upon a business combination of both.  ALO 'inherits' the track record of RPM.
  • Primero has been delisted after its acquisition by First Majestic.
  • Klondex was acquired by Hecla Mining. Coverage is discontinued and Klondex has been delisted.
  • After a friendly take-over bid of the Australian South32 miner on Arizona Mining (AZ), this top performer eventually left the selection.
  • We introduced Gold Standard Ventures (GSV) to our list in replacement of AZ mining.
  • After the bankruptcy of Red Eagle Mining (R), Teranga Gold Corporation (TGZ) was added in replacement.
  • Upon the merger of Barrick and Randgold, the more appealing Randgold ticker GOLD was maintained, whereas the merged mining company is called Barrick. The ticker ABX is removed and the reference share price is divided by the 6.128 Randgold share exchange value. Randgold shareholders thereby obtain 33% of the new Barrick.
  • Nighthawk (NH.TO) has been added to the list.
  • Atlanta Gold (ATG), TVI Pacific (TVI) and CMC metals (CMB), Black Dragon Gold (BDG.V),  Lincoln Mining Corp (LMG) and Miranda Gold (MAD) were dropped from the list. These explorers don't quote daily any longer. They have become hard to trade as market cap dwindled to a few million CAD.
  • Subsequently also Black Dragon Gold (BDG), Lincoln Mining Group (LMG), Eco Oro Min (EON) and Golden Queen Min (GQM) were dropped in March 2019.
  • Tahoe Resources was acquired by Pan American Silver (PAAS) as of Feb 22, 2019
  • Several replacements have been added to the list after mergers and de-listings. Those are Golden Arrow Gold (GRG) on the Toronto venture exchange, Alacer Gold (ASR), Belo Sun Mining (BSX), Marathon Gold (MOZ), Midas Gold (MAX) and Roxgold (ROXG) on TSX. Newmont (NEM) - NYSE in USD was also added. Subsequent additions were ASA Gold & Precious Metals (ASA), Evrim Resources (EVM), Victoria Gold (VCGX) and Equinox Gold (EQX)
  • Newmont (NEM) has completed the acquisition of Goldcorp (G on TSX and GG on US markets)
  • Alexandria Metals (AZX) has been taken over by O3 Mining
  • NGEx resources spun off its Los Helados project and various exploration properties into a new NGEx minerals (NGEX quoting on the Toronto Venture exchange) while focusing on the development of the José Maria copper-gold project in San Juan, Argentina. Accordingly the name was changed to Josémaria resources.
  • Silvercrest Metals (the explorer spun out of Silvercrest Mining as it was acquired by First Majestic Silver) has been added to the list. Reference date is Aug 2016. This propels SILV to the top quintile elite stocks having more than doubled since entry date.
  • Detour Gold was acquired by Kirkland Lake.
  • Lydian (LYD.TO) saw its quote suspended until (if ever) there is a solution for its Armenian project. This explorer developer was removed from the list. New list entries are Maya Gold (MYA) and Dynacor Gold Mines (DNG)
  • SILV is replacing the troubled small North Irish miner Galantas Gold (GAL)
  • The African miner SEMAFO (SMF.TO) will be acquired by Endeavour Mining (EDR).
  • Argonaut Gold (AR.TO) and Alio Gold (ALO.TO) will join forces in an at market merger. The Newcorp will be called Argonaut Gold.
  • Alio gold and Semafo are replaced in the list as of Apr. 24; new entries are Lundin Gold (LUG) on TSX and Eclipse Gold (EGLD) on TSXV.
  • Guyana Gold (acquired by Zjiin Mining) left the database on Jul 1st.
  • Gold Mining Inc (ticker GOLD on TSX) is added in replacement). To avoid confusing with Barrick, the symbol is tuned to Gold-t (with the t for Toronto).
  • Evrim Resources aquired Renaissance Gold. The merger company was named Orogen Royalties with ticker OGN.V (Venture exchange)

  • A few name changes:
  1.   Novacopper (NCQ) now is called Trilogy metals (TMQ)
  2.   Astur Gold (AST) changed to Black Dragon Gold (BDG)
  3.   Pilot Gold (PLG) changed to Liberty Gold (LGD)
  4.   Silver Wheaton (SLW) changed its name to Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM)
  5.   Eurasian Minerals changed to EMX Royalty Corp. (EMX)
  6.   Silver Standard Resources changed to SSR Mining with ticker SSRM
  7.   Gowest Amalgameted Res. changed to Gowest Gold with ticker still GWA
  8.   Tri Metals Mining changed its name to Gold Springs Resources Corp. with ticker GRC
  9.   Asanko Gold was renamed Galiano Gold with ticker GAU (both on TSX and US market)
  10.   Maya Gold was renamed to Aya Gold and Silver with the ticker changed to AYA.TO
  11.   Telson Resources has been renamed to Atalay Mining (ATLY.V)
  • And ticker changes:
  1.   Kirkland Lake Gold (KGI) changed its TSX ticker to KL
  2.   Pan American Silver changed its TSX ticker to PAAS (in line with that on US markets)
  3.   Golden Minerals changed its TSX ticker to AUMN (also in line with that on US markets)
  4.   Alexco minerals changed its TSX ticker to AXU, in line with that on US markets
  5.   Equinox Gold moved from Venture to the main TSX market with ticker EQX
  6.   Victoria Gold moved from Venture to the main TSX market with ticker changed to VCGX

The cumulative list of acquisitions or delistings between end 2010 and Jan 2019 (included below) is quite impressive:

Former mining or exploration company

TSX ticker

Date

Merging or acquiring miner or explorer / Delisted(red)

or follow up suspended (dark red)

Capital Gold Corp.

CGC

08/04/2011

Acquired by Gammon

Fronteer Gold Inc.

FRG

08/04/2011

Acquired by Newmont

Richfield Ventures

RVC

01/06/2011

Acquired by NewGold

ECU Silver Mining Inc.

ECU

08/10/2011

Acquired by Golden Minerals Cy.

Century Mining Corporation

CMM

14/10/2011

Merged with White Tiger Res.

Trade Winds Ventures Inc.

TWD

30/11/2011

Acquired by Detour Gold

Silvermex Resources Inc.

SLX

29/06/2012

Acquired by First Majestic

Trelawney Mining and Exploration

TRR

22/06/2012

Acquired by Iamgold

Extorre Gold Mines Limited

XG

24/08/2012

Acquired by Yamana

Great Basin Gold

GBG

19/09/2012

Delisted upon bankruptcy

Queenston Mining Inc

QMI

29/11/2012

Acquired by Osisko

High River Gold Mines Ltd.

HRG

14/03/2013

Merger with Nord Gold

Orko Silver Corp.

OK

15/04/2013

Acquired by Coeur d'Alène

Esperanza Silver Corporation

EPZ

30/08/2013

Acquired by Alamos Gold

Plato Gold Corp.

PGC

31/07/2013

Sold its Quebec gold resource to Monarques

Pacific Rim Mining Corp.

PMU

29/11/2013

Acquired by OceanaGold

American Bonanza Gold Corp.

BZA

07/07/2014

Acquired by Kerr Minerals, which will been absorbed by San Gold

Osisko Mining Corporation

OSK

16/06/2014

Acquired by Agnico Eagle and Yamana

San Gold Corporation

SGR

22/12/2014

Delisted after not meeting TSX requirements

U.S. Silver Corporation

USA

31/12/2014

Taken over by Scorpio Mining (SPM.TO)

Rio Alto Mining Limited

RIO

07/04/2015

Taken over by Tahoe Res.

Paramount Gold and Silver Corp.

PZG

17/04/2015

Taken over by Coeur d'Alène

AuRico Gold Inc. (Gammon)

AUQ

03/07/2015

Merger with Alamos Gold

Revett Minerals Inc.

RVM

17/06/2015

Taken over by Hecla Silver

Tyhee Development Corp.

TDC

03/06/2015

Delisted after not meeting TSX requirements

Sunward Resources

SWD

19/06/2015

Acquired by NovaCopper

Crocodile Gold Corp.

CRK

13/07/2015

Merged with Newmarket Gold (new ticker: NGI)

SilverCrest Mines Inc.

SVL

07/10/2015

Acquired by First Majestic Silver

Temex Resources Corp.

TME

21/09/2015

Acquired by Lake Shore Gold

Arian Silver Corporation

AGQ

01/12/2015

Delisted (only London and pink sheets)

Niogold Mining Corp.

NOX

10/03/2016

Acquired by OBAN Mining Corp / Osisko 2.0

Lake Shore Gold

LSG

07/04/2016

Acquired by Tahoe Resources

Claude Resources Inc.

CRJ

26/05/2016

Acquired by Silver Standard

AM Gold Inc.

AMG

26/08/2016

Sold its exploration/development target

Mines Management Inc.

MGT

13/09/2016

Acquired by Hecla mines

Rubicon Minerals Corporation

RMX

19/10/2016

Delisted after reducing gold reserves

Agave Silver Ltd (Cream Minerals)

AGV

19/12/2016

Sold its mineral rights in Mexico

Kiska Metals Corporation

KSK

07/03/2017

Acquired by Aurico Metals

Mariana Resources

MARL

23/06/2017

Acquired by Sandstorm

Crazy Horse Resources Inc.

CZH

06/06/2017

Renamed to Rockwealth Resources and 10:1 consolidation

Integra Gold

ICG

17/07/2017

Acquired by Eldorado Gold

Exeter Resource Corp.

XRC

08/08/2017

Acquired by Goldcorp

Primero Mining Corp.

P

11/05/2018

Acquired by  by First Majestic Mining, sold its Canadian mine to McEwen Mining

Klondex Mines Ltd.

KDX

19/06/2018

Acquired by Hecla Mining

Rye Patch Gold Corp.

RPM

30/05/2018

Business combination with Alio Gold

Arizona Mining

AZ

10/08/2018

Friendly Acquired by South32

Red Eagle Mining Corp.

R

09/11/2018

Defaulted after guarantee for restructuring financing failed

Barrick Gold

ABX

02/01/2019

Merger with Randgold to form new Barrick; ticker GOLD

Randgold

GOLD

02/01/2019

Merger with Barrick; ticker maintained

The majority of the Canadian ticker symbols quote at the TSX. A few quote at the TSXV (the less regulated Venture exchange). These companies are intrinsically more risky, especially if a miner or explorer gets demoted from TSX to TSXV. One such example is TVI Pacific.

The quote list: If the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) symbols are less familiar, you find the mining or exploration company name next to the TSX symbol in the below list:


Quote

Name

Quote

Name

AEM

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited

IMG

Iamgold

AGI

Alamos Gold Inc

IPT

Impact Silver Corp.

AMM

Almaden Minerals Ltd.

ITH

International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.

AR

Argonaut Gold

K

Kinross Gold Corporation

ARIS

Aris Mining Corp.

KNT

K92 Mining Inc

ASA

ASA Gold & Precious Metals

LGD

Liberty Gold Inc (Pilot Gold)

ASM

Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd.

LME

Laurion Mineral Exploration

ATLY

Atalay Mining Corp.

LUG

Lundin Gold Inc

AUMN

Golden Minerals Company

MAG

MAG Silver Corp.

AYA

Aya Gold & Silver

MOZ

Marathon Gold Corp.

BCM

Bear Creek Mining Corporation

MRZ

Mirasol Resources

BSR

Bluestone Resources

MSV

Minco Silver Corporation

BSX

Belo Sun Mining Corp.

MTB

Mountain Boy Minerals Ltd.

BTG

B2 Gold

MUX

McEwen Mining Inc.

CDB

Cordoba Minerals

NDM

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.

CDE

Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation

NEM

Newmont Mining

CG

Centerra gold

NG

NovaGold Resources Inc.

CKG

Chesapeake Gold Corp.

NGD

New Gold Inc.

CUU

Copper Fox Metals Inc

NGEX

NGEx Minerals Ltd

DNG

Dynacor Gold Mines Inc.

NHK

Nighthawk Gold Corp.

DPM

Dundee Precious Metals Inc.

NVO

NOVO Resources Corp.

EDR

Endeavour Silver Corp.

OGC

Oceana Gold

EDV

Endeavour Mining Corp.

OGN

Orogen Royalties Inc.

ELD

Eldorado Gold Corporation

OR

Osisko Gold Royalties

ELVT

Elevation Gold Mining

ORA

Aura Minerals Inc.

EMX

EMX Royalty Corp.

OSK

Osisko Mining Inc.

EQX

Equinox Gold

PAAS

Pan American Silver Corp.

EXN

Excellon Resources

PPTA

Perpetua Resources

FCX

Freeport McMoran Copper&Gold

RDS

Radisson Mining Resources

FIL

Filo Mining Corp.

RDU

Radius Gold

FLV

Freegold Ventures Ltd

RRI

Riverside Resources

FNV

Franco Nevada

SBB

Sabina Gold & Silver Corporation

FR

First Majestic Silver Corp.

SEA

Seabridge Gold Inc.

FURY

Fury gold mines

SGN

Scorpio Gold Corporation

FVI

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.

SILV

Silvercrest Metals

GAU

Galiano Gold (Asanko)

SPA

Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd.

GBU

Gabriel Resources Ltd.

SSL

Sandstorm Gold

GFI

Gold Fields

SSRM

SSR Mining

GOFL

Goldflare Exploration

SVM

Silvercorp Metals Inc.

GOLD

Barrick-Randgold

TML

Treasury Metals Inc.

Gold-t

Goldmining Inc.

TMQ

Trilogy Metals Inc.

GPG

Grande Portage Res.

TXG

Torex Gold

GRC

Gold Springs Resources

USA

Americas Silver

GRG

Golden Arrow Res. Corp

VCGX

Victoria Gold Corp.

GROY

Gold Royalty Corp.

WDO

Wesdome Gold

GWA

Gowest Amalgamated Res.

WPM

Wheaton Precious Metals

HL

Hecla Silver

YRI

Yamana Gold Inc.