TSX Venture inches up, June 30-July 4

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index started off July with small gains, ending the week up 14.8 points at 1,037.76. Daily trading volumes remained subdued, averaging just 47 million.

The week’s volume leader was Condor Resources, which saw 9.4 million shares change hands to close up 6¢ at 13¢. Drills are turning at Condor’s Soledad project in Peru as optionee Mariana Resources works to earn a 70% stake in the property. The latest 12-hole program began with surface targets and moved on to test for mineralization at depth. Hole 9 returned 174 metres grading 0.74 gram gold per tonne, 114.2 grams silver per tonne and 1.18% copper. Results from the final deep holes are pending.

Second on the volume board was Stans Energy, which won a $118-million arbitration ruling against the government of the Kyrgyz Republic. The Arbitration Court in Moscow ruled on the case, which started in 2012 when a Kyrgyz parliamentary committee revoked Stans’ licence for its Kutessay II rare earth elements project under suspicious circumstances. Kyrgyzstan will not likely respect the ruling, so to get any cash from the government Stans will have to go after one of the state’s foreign assets. One option would be to pursue the government’s 32.7% stake in Centerra Gold, which is worth $500 million.

Two small explorers are hoping to beat the bad markets by joining forces: Darnley Bay Resources and Canadian Arrow Mines are merging. Canadian Arrow shareholders will get of a 0.82 Darnley share for each Canadian Arrow share held. Canadian Arrow offers the Kenbridge nickel project in northwest Ontario, which has not been drilled since 2008 because of a lack of funds.

Commerce Resources shares rose 5¢ to close at 30¢ after it announced results from the winter drill program at its Ashram rare earth project in northern Quebec. A 12-hole infill program helped define the middle and heavy rare earth oxide (MHREO) zone within the Ashram deposit, holes 100 and 103 extended the zone by returning 48.9 metres grading 1.47% total rare earth oxides at 12% MH/T (middle and heavy rare earth oxides versus total rare earth oxides) and 42.4 metres of 1.6% TREO at 11.6% MH/T.

Avino Silver & Gold Mines signed a deal to acquire Bralorne Gold Mines for its Bralorne gold project in B.C. Avino used to own the Bralorne project, which is home to a 100-tonne-per-day mill. The site produced 3,842 oz. gold last year, but that was not enough to keep Bralorne Gold in the black. News of the merger left Avino’s share price unchanged and added 1.5¢ to Bralorne’s share price, which ended the week at 29¢.

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