TSX Venture in the black, July 4-8

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index gained 21.68 points, or 3%, to a 752.12-point close, boosted by stronger gold and silver prices. Spot gold gained 1.9%, or US$25, to US$1,366.33 per oz. — its highest level since March 2014 — while Comex silver hit two-year highs, up 2.6%, or US50¢, to US$20.09 per oz. silver. Comex copper fell 4.5%, or US10¢, to US$2.12 per lb., as the U.S. dollar climbed on strong U.S. jobs data.

Abitibi Royalties led the value-added category, with shares rising $1.79, or 22%, to $9.95, on strong gold prices and news of acquiring a 1% net smelter return royalty (NSR) at Frontline Gold’s Menderes gold project in Turkey. Abitibi paid Frontline $20,000 in exchange for the royalty, which brings its total NSR interest on the project to 3%. Frontline plans to drill up to 3,000 metres at the project by October. The holes would target possible extensions of the veins found at Eldorado Gold’s Efemcukuru gold mine, which is contiguous to Frontline’s claims on three sides. Abitibi owns royalties on various mineralized zones at Agnico Eagle Mines and Yamana Gold’s Canadian Malartic gold mine in Malartic, Que., and owns shares in both gold majors. Frontline shares were off a cent to 2¢.

Galane Gold saw 20.7 million shares traded before landing up 9¢ to 14¢ per share on strong quarterly production at its Mupane gold mine in northeastern Botswana. The company began underground mining in April at the main Tau orebody, where higher grades helped produce 7,855 oz. gold for the three months ending June 30 — an increase of 2,027 oz. on the previous quarter.

Galane is also working to reignite production at its Galaxy gold mine, one of the oldest mining operations in South Africa, which saw 1.3 million oz. gold produced between 1884 and 2001. The company acquired the asset last November, and plans to begin a prefeasibility study that outlines a two-stage expansion of existing mine infrastructure from 500 tonnes per day to 1,100 and 1,500 tonnes per day in the fourth and eighth years of operation.

Shares of Equitas Resources rose 4¢ to 12¢ on assay results from surface trenching at its Cajueiro gold project in central Brazil. Results include 24.3 grams gold per tonne over 2 metres, and 18.9 grams gold over 2 metres. A separate trenching interval returned 12 metres of 1.42 grams gold. Assays from 1,600 metres of drilling and the rest of the trench samples is pending. The property includes 8.6 million indicated tonnes at 0.77 gram gold for 214,000 oz. gold. Inferred resources in bedrock and saprolite add 9.5 million tonnes of 0.66 gram gold for 203,500 oz. gold, and 1.4 million tonnes at 1.78 grams gold for 78,400 oz. gold.