With gold prices strengthening on the back of a weakening U.S. dollar, the S&P-TSX Venture Exchange Composite Index rose 69.29 points to 2,974.51 over the Jan. 30-Feb. 5 trading session. Average daily trading volume, however, eased to 92 million shares from last week’s 102-million level.
Crowflight Minerals led the most active list, trading 16.3 million shares and rising 8 to 52, after the company said it had completed a bankable feasibility study on its Bucko Lake nickel project in Waboden, Man.
The total project capital cost, including engineering, procurement, construction and management plus contingencies is estimated at $64 million. Crowflight expects to begin production of a nickel concentrate at Bucko in early 2008 at a starting rate of 12.5 million pounds contained nickel per year.
Almost unchanged this week at 32, Solitaire Minerals was also active, with 15.6 million shares changing hands. Solitaire has signed a letter of intent with Kinross Gold for an option to acquire Kinross’s interests in the Eldorado uranium mine property at Port Radium in the Northwest Territories.
Oromin Explorations was up 66 to $3.01 on volume of 784,805 shares. During the trading session, the company tabled consolidated financial statements for the nine months ended Nov. 30, 2006. It said expenses of $6 million were incurred at its flagship Sabodala property in Senegal, West Africa, where the company is part of a joint venture that is exploring for gold. Oromin said 70 diamond-drill holes and 10 reverse-circulation holes were completed at Sabodala.
Meanwhile, Seabridge Gold was up $2.36 to $15.60 after announcing some new developments at projects in northern British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.
The company says it can improve the economics of its Courageous Lake, N.W.T. project, by using high-pressure grinding technology, a move that could reduce crushing and grinding costs by 25%.
Having released the final results from last year’s drilling at the Mitchell gold-copper deposit at its Kerr-Sulphurets project near Stewart, B.C., Seabridge is working on an independent resource calculation for Mitchell and two other deposits on the property.
Meanwhile, despite the well-publicized concerns about the nationalization of resource assets in Ecuador, Aurelian Resources said work continues unabated at its wholly owned Condor gold-silver project in the southeastern part of the country.
Still, Aurelian shares fell $2.78 to $26.60 in spite of news that drilling continues to expand the size of the Fruta Del Norte gold-silver discovery at Condor.
Uranium miner UrAsia Energy fared better, rising 64 to $5.84 on volume of 15.6 million. UrAsia operates the Akdala uranium mine and holds the South Inkai deposit and 30% of the Kharassan project, all of which are located in Kazakhstan.
Last month, the company said it had signed a contract to supply uranium concentrates to a major North American utility which it did not name.
TSX-V most active issues
| VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Crowflight Mnl | CML | 16365 | 0.58 | 0.41 | 0.52 | +0.08 |
| Solitaire Mnls | SLT | 15614 | 0.385 | 0.25 | 0.325 | +0.005 |
| UrAsia Energy | UUU | 15604 | 6.20 | 5.22 | 5.84 | +0.64 |
| Gravity West | GRW | 13669 | 0.16 | 0.105 | 0.135 | +0.03 |
| Committee Bay | CBR | 11383 | 0.73 | 0.445 | 0.59 | +0.15 |
| Cantex Mn Dev | CD | 9355 | 0.115 | 0.08 | 0.085 | +0.01 |
| Pele Mtn Res | GEM | 8620 | 1.23 | 0.98 | 1.20 | +0.06 |
| Phoenix Mat | PMM | 8040 | 0.23 | 0.18 | 0.195 | +0.015 |
| Melkior Res | MKR | 7767 | 0.365 | 0.27 | 0.355 | +0.065 |
| VenCan Gold | VCG | 7383 | 0.11 | 0.08 | 0.095 | +0.01 |
TSX-V greatest percentage change
| VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Hellix Vent | HEL | 304 | 0.35 | 0.24 | 0.33 | +50.0 |
| Southampton Vn | SV | 36 | 0.65 | 0.50 | 0.60 | +50.0 |
| Endurance Gold | EDG | 234 | 0.35 | 0.215 | 0.31 | +47.6 |
| Penteco Res | PEN | 718 | 0.50 | 0.335 | 0.49 | +42.0 |
| Iciena Vent | IIE | 2873 | 0.23 | 0.15 | 0.22 | +41.9 |
| Westar Res | WRC | 114 | 0.87 | 0.61 | 0.86 | +40.9 |
| Bishop Gold | BSG | 6975 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.035 | +40.0 |
| Sanatana Diam | STA | 113 | 0.80 | 0.70 | 0.70 | +40.0 |
| Ucore Uranium | UCU | 835 | 1.45 | 0.95 | 1.30 | +38.3 |
| Verona Dev | VDC | 560 | 0.26 | 0.19 | 0.26 | +36.8 |
| Marifil Min wt | MFM.WT | 110 | 0.005 | 0.005 | 0.005 | -50.0 |
| Colibri Res wt | CBI.WT | 1725 | 0.32 | 0.20 | 0.23 | -36.1 |
| Intl Northair | INM | 61 | 0.38 | 0.29 | 0.29 | -25.6 |
| Intl Chalice R | IRI | 91 | 1.00 | 0.65 | 0.70 | -23.9 |
| Amex Expl | AMX | 30 | 0.50 | 0.38 | 0.38 | -23.2 |
| Condor Res | CN | 95 | 0.46 | 0.37 | 0.37 | -22.9 |
| Donner Metals | DON | 1443 | 0.52 | 0.40 | 0.40 | -21.5 |
| Mano River Res | MNO | 43 | 0.26 | 0.205 | 0.205 | -21.1 |
| Goldbrook Vent | GBK | 2487 | 0.19 | 0.15 | 0.15 | -21.0 |
| Starcore Int V | SAM | 1828 | 1.32 | 1.01 | 1.05 | -21.0 |
TSX-V greatest value change
| VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Seabridge Gold | SEA | 82421 | 15.60 | +2.36 |
| Mag Silver | MAG | 884333 | 8.46 | +1.11 |
| Triex Minerals | TXM | 755444 | 5.25 | +0.85 |
| Chesapeake Gld | CKG | 173775 | 6.84 | +0.66 |
| Oromin Expl | OLE | 784805 | 3.01 | +0.66 |
| UrAsia Energy | UUU | 15604323 | 5.84 | +0.64 |
| Bear Creek Mng | BCM | 583624 | 8.70 | +0.60 |
| Pitchstone Exp | PXP | 613119 | 3.80 | +0.56 |
| Pan Oce Exp | POE | 2757582 | 4.20 | +0.55 |
| Keegan Res | KGN | 464033 | 3.50 | +0.53 |
| Aurelian Res | ARU | 1430646 | 26.60 | -2.78 |
| Nautilus Minls | NUS | 574429 | 4.42 | -0.63 |
| Dynasty Met&Mn | DMM | 502746 | 3.85 | -0.57 |
| First Majestic | FR | 892682 | 5.08 | -0.52 |
| Marathon PGM | MAR | 78300 | 3.85 | -0.30 |
| Crosshair E&Mg | CXX | 2501024 | 2.49 | -0.29 |
| Strategic Nev< /td> | SNS | 1513598 | 1.80 | -0.28 |
| Starcore Int V | SAM | 1827736 | 1.05 | -0.28 |
| U3O8 Corp | UWE | 526649 | 5.00 | -0.25 |
| Titan Uranium | TUE | 579656 | 2.14 | -0.25 |
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