TSX Venture finishes 2015 in the green, Dec. 23-31

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index finished the year with a late rally owing to rising energy and base metal futures, as it gained 4.7%, or 23.62 points, en route to a 525.66-point close.

But there are hardly bright times ahead for resource stocks in 2016, with the Bloomberg Commodity Index down 25% over the past year. Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar dropped 17%, or 15¢ in 2015, before finishing at US72.2¢.

February contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 6.6%, or US$2.29, en route to a US$37.04-per-barrel weekly close, while March contracts for copper jumped 1.4%, or US2.9¢, before closing at US$2.13 per lb. February contracts for gold bullion lost 2%, or US$21.60, before finishing at US$1,060.30 per oz.

Project-generator Eurasian Minerals topped the volume-traded category after production news from its Balya lead-zinc-silver royalty asset in Turkey. The company saw nearly 4 million shares change hands before it closed flat at 57¢ per share.

On Dec. 23 Eurasian reported shipping material for processing from the Hastanetepe deposit at Balya. In the early 2000s, the company acquired the project through an auction before vending it to Dedeman, a private Turkish miner, while retaining a 4% uncapped net smelter return royalty. Development is focused on an area of shallow, high-grade mineralization on the northeast margin of Hastanetepe, with 6,000 tonnes of run-of-mine material produced and stockpiled in 2015.

It’s almost the end of the line for beleaguered developer Banks Island Gold at its Yellow Giant gold mine project, located 120 km south of Prince Rupert, B.C. The company dropped to 0.5¢ per share on 4 million shares traded, after cancelling a proposed equity financing that may have given it enough liquidity to continue operations.

On Dec. 23 Banks Island revealed it would withdraw plans for a $3-million, non-brokered private placement, wherein it would have issued 10 million shares priced at 30¢ per share. The company was forced to suspend operations at Yellow Giant after the B.C. government pulled its small-mine permits.

After the failed financing, Banks Island announced it had “insufficient funds to maintain operations,” and “received notice of claims from three significant trade creditors for payment of outstanding debt.” The company provided a notice of termination to all its remaining employees.

Explorer Stakeholder Gold completed a one-for-10 share consolidation and announced  a financing for the Ballarat project in the Yukon’s White Gold district. The company finished at 10¢ per share on 28,000 shares traded, with 7 million shares outstanding.