Junior golds rally as year draws to a close

Junior gold explorers continued to drive Canada’s junior exchange higher. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index gained 41.8 points. or 4.1% of its value, to close at 1,052.29.

Shares in Coral Gold soared 39 and closed at 65 on 3.6 million shares, though the company says it is unaware of any events or material changes that would account for the increase. Coral has a rig turning on the property that adjoins the Pipeline gold mine in Nevada.

Arctic Star Diamond jumped 12 and closed 52 on 1.2 million shares. The junior holds a stake in several diamond properties in northern Ontario and Manitoba. Recently, the TSX Exchange accepted the company’s brokered private placement of 1.5 million shares (of which 1 million are flow-through) at a price of 25 per share. Attached are 1.5 million warrants with an exercise price of 30 per warrant for two years.

Gallery Resources jumped 5 and finished the week at 14 on a volume of 1.2 million shares. The junior holds the Black Bart Katie polymetallic project in central Newfoundland.

MacDonald Mines Explorations remained flat at 3 with 1.1 million shares traded. The company is searching for platinum group metals in Ontario and Quebec, and recently acquired a 19.4% interest in PolyMet Mining, with which it is in the process of merging. PolyMet’s main asset is the NorthMet low-grade copper/nickel/platinum-group-metal deposit in Minnesota.

Navigator Exploration added 2 to its value and closed at 20 as 1.1 million shares crossed the floor. Earlier this month, the company and equal partner Canabrava Diamond reported that De Beers Canada had purchased three Kat project claims for $350,000. The claims are near De Beers’ Victor kimberlite, in the Attawapiskat area of the James Bay Lowlands of northern Ontario. Canabrava closed at 23, up 1 on 389,000 shares.

Pan Asia Mining tacked on 1 and closed at 17 on 1 million shares. The company recently received a letter from D. D. Huang & Associates (DDH), qualified lawyers in the People’s Republic of China and Canada, which confirmed that it has acquired a half-interest in the Changma diamond mine. DDH has reviewed all the business licences, mine licences, and land use certificates (which cover a total of 993,094 sq. metres) and found them all to be in good standing.

American Bonanza Gold Mining closed up 4 to 24 with 954,000 shares changing hands. Investors are awaiting results from an 8-hole drill program at the Pamlico project, in the Walker Lane gold trend of Nevada. The program was designed to confirm and expand mineralization encountered previously in the underground workings in the Central Mine Area and at the northwestern end of the Main zone.

International Wayside Gold Mines finished the week at 18, up 5 on 894,000 shares. The company recently announced a non-brokered private placement of 2 million units price at 12 per unit. A portion of the private placement will be used to buy flow-through units for exploration at its Cariboo gold project at Wells, B.C.