The S&P-TSX Venture Composite Index surged to a 5-month high going into the Labour Day long weekend, gaining almost 2% or 36.79 points to close out the holiday shortened Aug. 30-Sept. 2 trading session at 1951.63. Average daily trading volumes were boosted by almost 20% to 47.8 million shares over the 4-day week.
The number of new lows decreased significantly over the period, with 74 Venture-Exchange-listed explorers dropping to annual lows versus 40 junior miners touching new 52-week highs.
One of the volume leaders for the week, White Knight Resources, traded over 4 million shares including a large market cross of 2.3 million shares. The north-central Nevada-focused gold explorer is drilling a number of targets in the Cortez Hills area.
With the uranium spot price cracking the US$30 per lb. level, JNR Resources saw 3.6 million shares change hands over the period, gaining 18 to close at $1.29 per share. The company, along with joint-venture partner International Uranium, has been drilling on its Moore Lake uranium project situated near the southeastern rim of the Athabasca Basin. Recent high-grade results include hole 83 which returned over 11 metres grading 1.8% U3O8, including 3 metres of 5.6% U3O8.
Esperanza Silver gained 23%, or 8.5, to close at 45 per share on volume of almost 3.5 million over the week, largely due to a 3.15 million share-trade representing a purchase by the company’s Peruvian joint-venture partner Silver Standard Resources. Ongoing exploration at its namesake project in Mexico indicates widespread, low-grade gold mineralization.
Trading 3 million shares over the session, Southern Star Resources closed up 20, or 44%, at 65 per share. Drilling, along with joint venture partner Exall Resources, on the Red Lake area Gold Eagle Mine property returned an 11.7-metre intercept averaging 28.5 grams gold at a depth of over 1,200 metres. The high-grade interval occurs in a structure at the Bruce Channel target, an intersection of two major gold bearing trends.
Lexam Explorations continued to garner significant market interest, trading 2.9 million shares and gaining 6.5 to close at 34 per share. Speculation is on what Robert McEwen has planned for the junior after he acquired a controlling interest from Goldcorp.
Alberta Star Development traded 2.7 million shares over the week, dropping 4 to close at 56 per share. The company recently lined up a $10.5 million private placement and plans drilling on its Contact Lake iron-oxide-copper-gold project in the Northwest Territories.
John Brock-helmed Western Prospector Group rose to a 5-month high gaining 16%, or 57, to close at $4.20 per share on volume of almost 1.7 million. The company is drilling its Saddle Hills uranium deposit in northeastern Mongolia.
Norsemont Mining rallied 33%, or 66 per share, to close at $2.65. With assay results pending from seven recent drill holes at its Constancia copper-gold project in Peru, the company is adding a second rig at the property.
Shares of PolyMet Mining gained 66 to close at $1.33 apiece on the week. The company closed a non-brokered private placement for proceeds of $6 million, allocated for the feasibility study on its NorthMet copper-nickel-cobalt-platinum-group-metals deposit in northeastern Minnesota.
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