CDNX slides into bear territory

Vancouver — Canada’s junior exchange saw losses on all indices except oil and gas during the report period ended Feb. 27. The Canadian Venture Exchange dropped 48.04, or 1.5%, to finish the week at 3,075.65, and the mining index followed suit, losing 80.43 points, or 1.3%, to close at 5,982.55.

Abacus Minerals topped the most actively traded chart among junior explorers. The company hit a new 52-week of low of 1, then bounced back to 3, with just over 2 million shares changing hands. The junior recently dropped a series of options on ground in the Wells area of British Columbia. It still holds the ER gold property in central Alaska.

Cantex Mine Development got a boost after it announced a drill-indicated resource at its Al Hariqah gold property in Yemen. The resource is based on 28 reverse-circulation holes and tallies to 16.1 million tons grading 1.65 grams per ton gold to a depth of 100 metres. Shares in the Charles Fipke-led junior ended the day up 1 to 16 on a volume of 1.8 million shares.

Tan Range Explorations ended the week flat at 43, with just over 1.4 million shares crossing the floor. The company is in the midst of a 3,500-metre drill program at its Itetemia gold property in Tanzania.

Spider Resources closed at 8, up a penny on a volume of 981,000 shares. The company is drilling the Kyle No. 3 kimberlite in the James Bay lowlands of northern Ontario. The 1,500-metre program will test the western extension of the kimberlite.

Strong tungsten prices continued to add to the volatility of North American Tungsten. The junior ended the week down 1 to 66 on a volume of 772,000 shares.

Mandorin Goldfields continued to trade heavily on news that it intends to pursue platinum properties in eastern Africa. Following a recently completed field study, the company will launch an exploration program over the continent’s eastern coast. Shares in the junior closed down 2 to 5 on a volume of 764,000 shares.

Orogrande Resources remained flat after trading 722,000 shares and ending the week at 12. The David Mason-led junior is drilling the Burnt Pond massive-sulphide project, near Buchans, Nfld. At last report, the first two holes of a 5-hole program had been completed. Sulphide mineralization has been encountered, and assays are still pending.

Pan Asia Mining reports that open-pit mining at its 701 diamond mine in China is still in progress. Since the upgrade of the mine, production has reached 38,400 carats of diamonds from the processing of 36,000 tonnes of ore. Pan Asia estimates that the production of diamonds this year will hit 50,000 carats.

Ecstall Mining ended the week unchanged at 10 on a volume of 700,000 shares. The diversified explorer holds 11,600 sq. km of diamond properties in Alberta, a gold property near the Snip mine in British Columbia, a massive-sulphide property near Prince Rupert, B.C., and gold properties in Mexico.

Kensington Resources lost 9 and closed at 56 on 648,000 shares. The market is anticipating results of macrodiamond counts from the Fort la Corne property in Saskatchewan. The project is a joint venture with De Beers Canada Exploration.