1. Talon Metals (TSX:TLO)

Year-to-date gain: 617.65 percent
Market cap: C$654.99 million
Share price: C$0.61

Talon Metals is a nickel exploration and development company working to advance its Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project in Minnesota, US, toward production.

The project is a joint venture with Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO). Talon currently holds a 51 percent interest in the property, but under the terms of the deal, it has the option to increase its stake to up to 60 percent.

In November 2022, Talon released a resource estimate, reporting an indicated resource of 8.56 million metric tons with an average grade of 1.73 percent nickel, and an inferred resource of 8.46 million metric tons grading 0.83 percent.

The company is currently working to produce a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), and noted on October 20 that it had received a 12 month extension from Rio Tinto to complete the PEA as part of the earn-in agreement. Talon said the extended deadline will allow it to better time the release with an environmental assessment.

Talon’s share price has increased significantly on a series of massive sulfide discoveries at Tamarack throughout the year at what it has named the Vault Zone. Most recently, on December 11 Talon released results from step-out drilling at the Vault Zone at Tamarack, reporting that two of the three holes intersected the same massive sulfide, extending the zone.

The third demonstrated the zone’s copper enrichment, with highlights from the hole showing grades of 2.38 percent nickel and 4.72 percent over 19.11 meters, including 3.22 meters grading 2.77 percent nickel and 11.69 percent copper.

Additionally, Talon announced on May 28, that it secured a site from Westmoreland Mining that it will use to develop its Beulah Minerals Processing Facility. The facility has been separated from Tamarack to streamline the environmental review for the mine. Construction on the facility is slated to begin in 2027.

The company is also the operator of the Boulderdash nickel-copper discovery and numerous high-grade nickel-copper prospects in Michigan, US, for which Talon entered option agreements for Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN,OTC Pink:LUNMF) to acquire a 70 percent interest in the group of projects in early March.

2. Nickel Creek Platinum (TSXV:NCP)

Year-to-date gain: 400 percent
Market cap: C$16.19 million
Share price: C$2.55

Nickel Creek Platinum is advancing its flagship Nickel Shäw project toward production. Located in Yukon, Canada, it consists of 711 mineral claims and 91 quartz mining leases covering 14,650 hectares. Mineralization at the property was first discovered in 1952, with historic mining operations being carried out between 1972 and 1973.

A resource estimate included in a 2023 prefeasibility study demonstrates a measured and indicated nickel resource of 2.47 billion pounds from 436.7 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 0.26 percent nickel. It also holds an inferred resource of 668 million pounds of nickel from 114.02 million metric tons grading 0.27 percent.

Nickel Creek is planning for a 2026 drill program at Nickel Shäw, and stated the next step is a feasibility study.

On November 19, the company announced the closing of the first tranche of a private placement for proceeds of C$1.5 million. The company’s largest shareholder, Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund, joined in the placement for up to C$800,000. As of May, Electrum held a 49.85 percent stake in Nickel Creek.

This was followed by an announcement on December 10 that it closed the second and final tranche of the placement for an additional C$276,000. The company said it intends to use the funds raised for a 2026 exploration drill program and permitting activities at Nickel Shäw.

Shares of Nickel Creek Platinum reached a year-to-date high of C$3.86 on October 13.

3. Grid Metals (TSXV:GRDM)

Year-to-date gain: 314.29 percent
Market cap: C$33.79 million
Share price: C$0.145

Grid Metals is an exploration company focused on a portfolio of projects in Manitoba, Canada.

Among its properties is the Makwa project located within the Bird River greenstone belt of Southeastern Manitoba. The project hosts nickel, copper and platinum group metals (PGMs) mineralization.

A June 2024 mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Makwa deposit demonstrated an indicated open pit resource of 68,243 metric tons of nickel with an average grade of 0.48 percent from 14.21 million metric tons of ore, as well as 317 million pounds of copper and 452,000 ounces of combined PGMs and gold.

In December 2024, Grid signed a definitive option and joint venture agreement with Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.A,TECK.B,NYSE:TECK) to explore and develop the project. Under the terms of the agreement, Teck can earn up to a 70 percent interest in Makwa through cumulative expenditures of C$15.7 million and cash payments of C$1.6 million.

The company also owns the nearby Mayville nickel-copper-PGM project. In the 2024 MRE, the company reported an open-pit indicated resource of 51,230 metric tons of nickel, averaging 0.16 percent, from 32.02 million metric tons of ore.

On April 3, the company announced Teck was advancing towards a Phase One drill program at Makwa that would include 2,500 meters within an initial target area identified through an aerial geophysical survey.

Then on August 11, Grid reported that initial exploration at Makwa led to the discovery of surface-level semi-massive nickel mineralization, with grab samples returning grades of up to 1.1 percent, at the new Pavo anomaly. The company said the anomaly, which was identified through the aerial survey, would become the priority target for the drill program.

In a follow-up on November 11, the company announced that it received the necessary drilling permits for Makwa and that the drill rigs had been mobilized to the site.

In addition to its nickel properties, Grid Metals owns the Falcon West cesium and Donner lithium-cesium projects, also located in Southeastern Manitoba. Its cesium projects were another significant area of focus for Grid in 2025.

Shares in Grid Metals reached a year-to-date high of C$0.175 on November 20

4. SPC Nickel (TSXV:SPC)

Year-to-date gain: 300 percent
Market cap: C$25.76 million
Share price: C$0.08

SPC Nickel is an exploration company working to advance a pair of projects in Nunavut and Ontario, Canada.

Its Muskox property is a copper, nickel and platinum group metals exploration project in Nunavut, consisting of 26 mining claims and two prospector permits covering a total land area of 49,600 hectares. Mineralization at the site was first identified in the 1950s.

On July 21, SPC announced it would be carrying out a property-wide 1,000 line kilometer magneto-telluric (MobileMT) electromagnetic geophysical survey at Muskox that will be used to develop a 3D model.

In an exploration update released on September 17, the company said its summer exploration program had advanced the geologic understanding of the mineralization system present on the property, and that the MobileMT survey was the most thorough and modern survey ever flown at the site.

On November 24, the company released results from its exploration program, which included 77 grab samples across four primary and several additional target areas along the 125 kilometer long Muskox Intrusion.

In the report, SPC said results confirmed widespread high-grade mineralization of copper, nickel and platinum-group metals. The highest-grade nickel highlight was from the Speers Lake target, where one grab sample returned 6.24 percent nickel, while one sample from the Equinox target graded 70.62 percent copper equivalent.

Then, on December 8, SPC announced that the MobileMT survey outlined “numerous strong conductors … along the margins of the Muskox Intrusion and within the Feeder Dyke.” It noted that some of the conductors coincide with known mineralized zones, and some define new exploration targets.

The company is also working on its advanced-stage Lockerby East project near Sudbury, Ontario.

A March 2024 resource estimate demonstrates an indicated in-pit resource of 179.1 million pounds of nickel from 19.23 million metric tons with an average grade of 0.42 percent nickel and an out-of-pit resource of 45.7 million pounds of nickel from 3.24 million metric tons grading 0.64 percent from the West Graham target. It also shows an additional 17.2 million pounds of nickel from 665,000 metric tons grading 1.17 percent at the LKE deposit.

The most recent news from the project came on October 23, when the company announced it started a 1,000 meter drill program at the site designed to test anomalies located down-dip from the LKE deposit.

Shares in SPC Nickel reached a year-to-date high of C$0.80 on December 1.

5. Stillwater Critical Minerals (TSXV:PGE)

Year-to-date gain: 208.33 percent
Market cap: C$90.94 million
Share price: C$0.37

Stillwater Critical Minerals is an exploration and development company advancing its flagship Stillwater West nickel project in Montana, US. The property hosts 14 multi-kilometer-scale exploration targets and boasts 32 kilometers of strike length that adjoins the adjacent Sibanye-Stillwater mine property.

A resource estimate released in January 2023, shows an inferred nickel resource of 1.05 billion pounds from 254.8 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 0.19 percent. The project also holds platinum group elements, copper, cobalt and gold.

In late March, the company reported multiple large-scale magmatic sulfide targets following analysis of a property-wide third-party MobileMT geophysical survey completed in late 2024.

The data from the survey was also used to build a new 3D geological model of the lower Stillwater Igneous Complex that the company used to further prioritize targets at Stillwater West for its 2025 drill campaign.

In June, the company mobilized for a new drill program focused on the advanced project areas, while testing adjacent targets identified using the 3D model.

In an exploration update released on September 15, Stillwater noted that it had completed over 3,100 meters in its 2025 campaign and was working on the fifth and sixth holes. It plans to use results from the program, combined with other drill data, to support an updated resource estimate in the first half of 2026.

On November 6, the company released a corporate update stating that the program’s results were pending and would be released when they became available. Additionally, Stillwater noted that 14 drill holes from the past two drill campaigns would be used to update the project MRE.

The company is anticipating completion of the MRE during the first half of 2026.

Stillwater’s most recent news came on December 15 when it increased the size of a bought deal from C$10 million to C$15 million. Proceeds from the fundraising will be used for exploration of Stillwater West and for general corporate purposes.

Shares of Stillwater Critical Minerals reached a year-to-date high of C$0.57 on October 8.

FAQs for nickel investing

1. Retail Investors Look to Trigger Silver Squeeze 2.0

Publish date: March 31, 2025

Silver received mainstream attention in March, with renewed calls for what supporters dubbed “Silver Squeeze 2.0,” reviving a theme that first gained prominence during the meme stock era of 2021.

Online chatter intensified ahead of March 31, with advocates urging coordinated purchases of physical silver to challenge what they saw as entrenched institutional control over the metal’s pricing.

Efforts traced back to a March 22 post on X by user @TheSqueakyMouse, which gained broader attention after being amplified by sector analyst Jesse Colombo. Colombo, who posts under the handle @TheBubbleBubble, has argued that the silver price is artificially suppressed by large financial institutions:

“Bullion banks like JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) suppress silver prices through aggressive naked shorting—but a coordinated surge of physical buying could catch them off guard and break their hold on the market.’

Colombo pointed to data showing that major banks hold net short positions equivalent to roughly 223 million ounces of silver, meaning a US$1 price increase could theoretically translate into US$223 million in losses for those positions.

2. Missouri Set to Recognize Gold and Silver as Legal Tender, Critics Raise Implementation Concerns

Publish date: May 12, 2025

Attention on precious metals took a more concrete form in Missouri. In May, the state’s General Assembly passed a Republican-backed amendment to a broader finance bill that recognizes gold and silver as legal tender.

The measure would require state entities to accept electronic forms of gold and silver for public debts, including taxes. Private businesses would not be required to accept precious metals, but could do so voluntarily.

Supporters argued that recognizing gold and silver offers a hedge against inflation and what they view as irresponsible federal monetary policy. Critics, however, questioned how the system would work in practice.

3. Silver Miners Deliver Record Q2 Earnings as Price Breaks Out

Publish date: August 19, 2025

Silver’s mid-year rally above US$35 per ounce translated into record or near-record earnings for many miners in Q2.

Pan American Silver (TSX:PAAS) reported record net earnings of US$189.6 million in the period, while First Majestic Silver (TSX:AG,NYSE:AG) posted its strongest quarter to date, nearly doubling revenue year-on-year.

Even mining companies facing production challenges, such as Fresnillo (LSE:FRES,OTC Pink:FNLPF), saw revenue growth driven by gold output and pricing strength.

4. Missing Silver Bars Bring Mining Community Together

Publish date: March 7, 2025

Amid those financial milestones, the mining community was united in March by a widely shared incident.

Following the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention, two 10 ounce silver bars purchased by Kin Communications founder Arlen Hansen went missing after being checked in his luggage on an Air Canada flight.

The bars, worth about US$647, were intended for a silent auction benefiting Canadian children living with diabetes.

“I don’t need a refund, a free upgrade, or more points, this was stolen from the children who need it, not me,” Hansen wrote on X. The response from the mining community was swift. First Majestic Silver and its mint division volunteered to replace the lost silver, while others donated to Diabetes Canada and expressed support.

The incident also revived scrutiny of airline cargo security, particularly given Air Canada’s association with earlier high-profile precious metals thefts, including the 2023 gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

5. Pan American Silver Gets Green Light for US$2.1 Billion MAG Silver Deal

Publish date: August 25, 2025

One of this year’s most consequential silver M&A developments came when Pan American received final clearance from Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission for its US$2.1 billion acquisition of MAG Silver.

The approval paved the way for the deal to close in early September, combining Pan American with one of the world’s highest-grade primary silver assets, Juanicipio.

Under the terms, MAG shareholders were to receive either cash or Pan American shares, leaving them with about 14 percent of the combined company on a fully diluted basis.

“This strategic acquisition further solidifies Pan American as a leading Americas-focused silver producer,” Pan American CEO Michael Steinmann said when the deal was announced.

He added that Juanicipio “will meaningfully increase Pan American’s exposure to high margin silver ounces,” while also providing longer-term growth through MAG’s exploration properties in Utah and Ontario.