Explorers announcing significant drill results on precious metals properties dominated the highest 20-day share price rises analyzed in the first quarter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

The gold price was propelled to a one-year high of $1,993.50 per ounce the day after the US Federal Reserve's March 22 interest rate hike. The move amplified negative sentiment arising from major liquidity issues, which Silicon Valley Bank's sudden collapse illuminated.

With this backdrop, companies that reported significant exploration results on precious metals properties accounted for over half of the top 31 companies that had the biggest share price gains during the quarter. The 31 miners were grouped into three categories according to market capitalization.

Lode Resources Ltd. had the highest 20-day share price gain of 250% after announcing its "best intercept to date" at the Webbs Consol silver project in New South Wales, Australia, on Jan. 17. One drill hole returned an intercept of 26.7 meters at 421 silver-equivalent grams per metric ton. The project has several small but high-grade silver-lead-zinc-gold deposits.

While silver's industrial uses help ensure its price does not always track that of gold, silver has a positive outlook given the huge forecasts for solar panels and electronics and has been "an outperformer" over the past year, Peter Arden, managing director for mining research firm Groundwork Pty. Ltd., told S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Gold, meanwhile, is "on a tear at the moment and looks like going to record levels," Arden said. Such projects are easy to understand for investors, with simple progression to the mining stage without the complications some battery metals can involve, Arden added.

"With gold, there's almost a one-to-one correlation with a good high-grade hit and some sort of follow-up activity, even leading up to development," Arden said.

Miners valued at under $10 million before announcing notable exploration results had a larger proportion of share price gains than the other two groups of companies with bigger market caps. These very small market cap companies had gold as the primary commodity in seven projects, plus Lode's silver project.

Of the top 10 small market cap companies, five had projects where gold was the primary commodity, while four of the large market cap companies had projects with gold as the primary commodity.

Patriot Battery Metals Inc. on Jan. 18 announced its widest, highest grade lithium drill intercept returned to date of 156.9 meters at 2.12% lithium oxide at the Corvette property in Quebec. Following the announcement, the miner logged a 20-day share price increase of 104.5% — the largest surge in the group of companies worth over $100 million.

"It is hard to find words to adequately describe the impressive nature of the lithium mineralization in drill hole CV22-083," Patriot Vice President of Exploration Darren Smith said in a same-day statement.

Among the small market cap companies, Rox Resources Ltd. posted a 20-day share-price rise of 113.8% after a March 2 announcement revealed thick, high-grade intercepts at the Western Australian Youanmi property, which confirmed the geological continuity of the Midway discovery made in 2021 with joint venture partner Venus Metals Corp. Ltd.

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