Junior market stays jolly into the holidays

Despite a brief dip back below US$500 per oz. in the spot price of gold, the TSX Venture Exchange closed out the pre-Christmas trading session in a festive spirit, gaining 2.2% or 47.84 points to set a multi-year high of 2,190.56. Average daily trading volumes in the Dec. 20-23 period held strong at 51.1 million shares.

Staccato Gold Resources continued to be a strong trader over the session, gaining 13 to 43 per share on volume of 13.8 million shares. Speculation on results from three holes recently drilled on the Lookout Mountain area of its South Eureka project, returning high-grade gold mineralized zones, fuelled the buying frenzy.

Second most-active trader was Yukon Zinc with volume of 10.8 million shares, notching up 6.5 to close at 35.5 per share. The company recently released results from phase-2 definition drilling on its Wolverine zinc-copper-lead deposit in the eastern Yukon. A number of precious metal-rich intercepts were reported in addition to expected base metal values.

San Gold grabbed third spot among volume leaders, trading 6.9 million shares and closing up 3 at 52 per share. A large market cross from a single shareholder, redistributing a block of shares to a couple of funds, accounted for most of the volume. The company recently completed a $3.3-million private placement with funds earmarked for reactivation of its Rice Lake gold mine in eastern Manitoba.

Minera Andes, the latest investment focus of Robert McEwen, traded over 5.6 million shares and gained 12.5 to close at 60 per share. The ex-chairman and CEO of Goldcorp plans to invest $10 million in the junior to hold up to 32% of Minera Andes. The company is advancing its San Jos gold-silver joint venture (with Mauricio Hochschild) in southern Argentina, which is expected to produce almost 61,000 oz. gold and 3.1 million oz. silver annually over a 4.3-year mine life.

Swedish-focused junior explorer Mawson Resources saw 3.1 million shares change hands, trading up 11 to close at $1.16 per share. Surface sampling on its Flistjarn project returned high-grade uranium values up to 19.1% U3O8.

Closing a $1.5-million flow-through financing, Hornby Bay Exploration traded over 3 million shares, gaining a penny to close at 29 per share.

Seabridge Gold continued its rally, gaining 93 per share to close at $11.10 on volume of over 160,000 shares. The company is focused on development of its Courageous Lake gold deposit in the Northwest Territories and has recently acquired a number of exploration projects in Nevada.

Western Prospector Group added 56 to its share price over the trading session to close at $5.05 per share. The company is gaining back some ground following clarification of proposed changes to Mongolia’s mining law. The company is advancing its Saddle Hills uranium project, which hosts historic resources reviewed in previous development.