The

S&P/TSX Composite Index

(INDEXTSI:

OSPTX

) opened higher last Friday (April 23) and was trading at 19,098.61 by midday. It closed last week at 19,103.87.

The index extended gains on the back of rising materials stocks, which tracked a higher

gold

price.

Although it

trended up for the week

, Friday saw gold move lower than it did during the previous session, with

silver

also falling on the back of strong US economic data.

Last week’s five TSX-listed mining stocks that saw the biggest gains are as follows:

• Marimaca Copper (TSX:
  
  MARI
  
  )
• CNOOC (TSX:
  
  CNU
  
  )
• UEX (TSX:
  
  UEX
  
  )
• Loncor Resources (TSX:
  
  LN
  
  )
• Sierra Metals (TSX:
  
  SMT
  
  )

Here’s a look at those companies and the factors that moved their share prices last week.

1. Marimaca Copper

Marimaca Copper’s company name aligns with its flagship development asset in Chile, the Marimaca project, which is one of the largest

copper

discoveries in Northern Chile.

Last Thursday (April 22), the company

announced the definition

of a new, large-scale copper geochemical anomaly at the Roble target, which it plans to drill test over the coming months. Marimaca saw its share price go up by 25.39 percent last week to reach C$5.63.

2. CNOOC

CNOOC is the largest producer of offshore crude

oil

and natural

gas

in China, and is one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the world. CNOOC mainly engages in the exploration, development, production and sale of crude oil and natural gas.

Last Thursday,

the company reported

that in the first three months of the year it achieved total net production of 137.7 million barrels of oil equivalent, representing an increase of 4.7 percent year-over-year. Last week, shares of the company increased 18.18 percent to end at C$130.

3. UEX

UEX has made significant advancements in the discovery and development of existing and new uranium and

cobalt

deposits in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada. The company has four flagship projects: the West Bear project, the Christie Lake property, the Horseshoe and Raven deposits and the Shea Creek property.

The company said last Thursday that it has

signed a definitive purchase agreement

with Overseas Uranium Resources Development to acquire 100 percent ownership of Overseas Uranium’s wholly owned subsidiary JCU. Last week, shares of UEX increased 16.67 percent to end the week at C$0.35.

4. Loncor Resources

Canadian gold exploration company Loncor Resources is focused on the Ngayu Greenstone Belt in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company has a joint venture agreement with Barrick Gold (NYSE:

GOLD

,TSX:ABX), which will manage and fund exploration at the Ngayu project until the completion of a

prefeasibility study

on any gold discovery meeting the investment criteria of Barrick.

Over the five day period, shares of Loncor Resources increased 15.66 percent, and were trading at C$0.96 by the end of the week.

5. Sierra Metals

Sierra Metals is a growing polymetallic mining company with copper production from its Yauricocha mine in Peru and its Bolivar and Cusi mines in Mexico.

Last Wednesday (April 21), the company said it is set to

invest US$28 million

for the construction of a magnetite processing plant, including an initial expenditure of $5.2 million for early procurement and contracting on the project. The plant is expected to produce about 500,000 tonnes per year of 62 percent

iron

ore fines concentrate at the company’s Bolivar mine, located in Chihuahua State, Mexico.

Last week, Sierra Metals saw its share price increase 14.02 percent to hit C$4.23.

Data for 5 Top Weekly TSX Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday at 10:30 a.m. PST using TradingView’s

stock screener

. Only companies with market capitalizations greater than C$50 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the non-energy minerals and energy minerals are considered.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.