Nickel on the Rise: Market Highlights and Top Picks

PR Title: Raised $3.5M via private placements in December 2025 (QP: Dean MacEachern, P.Geo. Advisor to Tartisan Nickel)

Analyst Comment: Positive – These financings represent a strong vote of confidence in the company’s flagship Kenbridge nickel project in Ontario. Proceeds will fund exploration aimed at potentially upgrading and expanding resources at Kenbridge, which hosts high-grade open-pit and underground nickel-copper-cobalt deposits. The company is pursuing a drill program, with results expected to start coming in over the coming weeks. A 2022 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) returned an after-tax NPV5% of $109M using US$10/lb nickel (current spot: US$8/lb, near the project’s break-even price). Given the recent spike in nickel prices, we believe the upcoming results are likely to draw heightened attention from capital markets, and positive outcomes could create meaningful upside for the stock.

Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. (BLLG.CN)

PR Title: Sells ~$1M of gold and silver

Analyst Comment: Positive – BLLG has completed its first gold and silver sale from the Dome Mountain project in B.C., receiving a $1M advance for 1,000 tonnes of mineralized material delivered to its milling partner, Nicola Mining (TSXV: NIM). Final settlement is expected following processing, with grades and metal recoveries to be confirmed. Becoming a revenue-generating company is an important step, as the market generally assigns higher value to producers. We believe BLLG could potentially process 40,000–50,000 tpy in its first year, producing 11–14 Koz of gold. First-year EBITDA is estimated at US$23–29M, implying an EV/EBITDA of 3.1x, below the sector average of 4.6x, suggesting the company’s shares are relatively inexpensive compared to its peers. Read our full site visit report here.

Blue Star Helium Limited (BNL.AX)

PR Title: America’s newest helium producer

Analyst Comment:

Positive – We have commenced our due diligence on BNL, and will be initiating coverage in the coming weeks. The company, based in Australia, owns three helium projects in Colorado: Galactica, Voyager, and Pegasus. Helium is an industrial gas with diverse applications across industries, including electronics, energy, aerospace, and medical technology. It plays a vital role in critical technologies such as MRI machines, and semiconductor manufacturing. The U.S. is the world’s leading helium producer, with the second largest-resource base globally. Compared to traditional commodity markets, the helium market is relatively small and niche, leading to limited investor awareness, and understanding. With a significant supply deficit expected later this decade, we anticipate a surge in investor interest in the helium sector. BNL achieved a major milestone last month by commencing helium production at its Galactica project, a 50:50 joint venture with Helium One Global (LSE: HE1/MCAP: US$55M), transitioning from an explorer/developer to producer. A 2025 drill program confirmed the potential for high helium concentrations and attractive flow rates, supporting strong future production. We estimate that the company’s first processing facility could produce 26,400 mcf/year of helium, generating over US$10M in revenue, and US$5M in EBITDA (reflecting its 50% share). With a MCAP of US$14M, BNL’s EV/EBITDA sits at 3.3x, well under the sector average of 8x, highlighting potential undervaluation. BNL’s near-term plans are to increase production at Galactica, and advance Pegasus into production. We will be initiating coverage shortly, including a fair value estimate and rating.

FRC Top Picks

The table below highlights last week’s top five performers from our Top Picks. The best performer was Giga Metals Corporation (TSXV: GIGA), which rose 40%. GIGA owns a large undeveloped nickel-cobalt project in B.C. Nickel prices have jumped 23% in the past three weeks to a one-year high after Indonesia, the world’s top producer, proposed a 34% output cut to address oversupply. We believe this could renew attention on nickel juniors, which have been largely overlooked after nearly three years of depressed prices from prolonged surpluses.

Top Five Weekly Performers	WoW Returns
Giga Metals Corporation (GIGA.V)	40.00%
Sonoro Gold Corp. (SGO.V)	25.50%
Panoro Minerals (PML.V)	22.90%
Lake Resources NL (LKE.AX)	19.20%
Denarius Metals Corp. (DMET.NE)	10.30%

Source: FRC

* Past performance is not indicative of future performance (as of Jan 5, 2026)

Our top picks have outperformed the benchmark (TSXV) in six out of seven time periods listed below.

Performance by Sector

Total Return	1 Week	1 mo	3 mo	6 mo	1 yr	3 yr	Since launch
Mining	11.10%	19.90%	58.60%	77.60%	96.60%	44.40%	58.20%
Cannabis	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	-10.00%	-23.60%
Tech	-5.70%	7.70%	-8.60%	234.90%	517.20%	17.30%	49.90%
Special Situations (MIC)	0.30%	2.00%	1.20%	-2.90%	2.30%	17.40%	-1.00%
Private Companies	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	9.30%	24.20%	64.10%
Portfolio (Total)	6.60%	13.90%	34.30%	71.90%	91.90%	39.80%	43.00%
Benchmark (Total)	2.50%	8.70%	3.20%	34.90%	65.30%	75.60%	15.20%
Portfolio (Annualized)	-	-	-	-	91.90%	11.80%	3.00%
Benchmark (Annualized)	-	-	-	-	65.30%	20.60%	1.20%

1. Since the earliest initiating date of companies in the list of Top Picks (as of Jan 5, 2026)

2. Green (blue) indicates FRC's picks outperformed (underperformed) the benchmark.

3. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Source: FRC

Our complete list of top picks (updated weekly) can be viewed here.

*Disclaimers - Annual fees ranging from $15,000 to $35,000 have been paid to FRC by Lake Resources, Giga Metals, Sonoro Gold, Panoro Minerals, Denarius Metals, Tartisan Nickel, Blue Lagoon Resources, Blue Star Helium, Zepp Health, and Energy Vault Holdings for research coverage and distribution of reports. FRC or companies with related management, and Analysts, do not hold shares/securities in the companies mentioned in this report.

Nickel on the Rise: Market Highlights and Top Picks

Nickel on the Rise: Market Highlights and Top Picks

Updates on Resource Companies Under Coverage

Updates on Financials, Technology, Energy, and Special Situations Companies Under Coverage

Royalties Ready to Pay Off Amid Rising Metal Prices

Strategic Student Housing Cushions Market Headwinds

Transitions into a Revenue- Generating Gold Producer

Share Rally Continues on Special Dividend, Production Growth, and Record Gold Prices