The TSX Venture Exchange managed neither a loss nor a gain over the report period May 26-June 1, ending at 1603.22 after breaking its 6-week losing streak in the previous week.
The junior mining sector showed some life, thanks to the rising price of gold, which ended the period at about US$394 per oz. in New York. The price of silver stayed about even, at the US$6.02-per-oz. level. Eleven companies managed to reach 52-week highs, with five times as many reaching 52-week lows over the period.
The yellow metal rallied to a 5-week high near the end of the trading period on June 1 but failed to reach US$400 per oz. Instability in Saudi Arabia, highlighted by attacks on the offices of Western companies, raised fears about the country’s oil supply and led to higher crude prices; this, in turn, has sparked inflation fears. Speculators seemed to be doing some bargain-hunting in the junior gold sector after bailing over the past few weeks as the price dropped to around US$377 per oz.
Topping the most-active list, in terms of shares exchanged, are EuroZinc Mining, Spider Resources, NFX Gold, Entree Gold and First Point Minerals.
Spider Resources tacked on 2 to close at 15. The company released preliminary results from the first diamond drill hole completed on the Good Friday kimberlite, which is part of the MacFadyen property in northeastern Ontario. Conclusion: it’s diamondiferous. Drillcore samples weighing 455 kg yielded a total of 121 diamonds (111 microdiamonds and 10 macros).
Investors took a fancy to Vancouver-based Entree Gold, which tacked on 23 to close at $1.19 following an exploration update of its Mongolian property. Results are pending for the 2,250 metres completed. Six of the eight holes tested the northern portion of the Zone III epithermal gold system, and the remaining two holes tested the Zone I/II induced-polarization chargeability anomalies.
High gold grades from each of the first two deep drill holes on the Balsamo East target, at First Point Minerals‘ Rio Luna project in Nicaragua, made for a lot of trading activity. Shares were up 8, to close at 23, representing a 53% gain. Hole 21 intersected 2.9 metres grading 39.75 grams gold per tonne at a down-hole depth of 58.8 metres.
NFX Gold, which was recently listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, was a volume leader following Anthony Sage’s nomination to the board. Sage is executive chairman of Australian-based International Goldfields, which owns 7.9% of the issued and outstanding shares of NFX. The stock rose 10 to close at 42.
EuroZinc Mining attracted investor attention as the company’s acquisition of the Neves Corvo copper mine in Portugal neared closing. EuroZinc closed at 61, down 7, despite positive comments from Thornmark Asset Management.
Patrician Diamonds gained a 62% after additional kimberlitic indicator minerals were returned from regional sampling in the Yukon last fall. The company’s shares closed at 13.
Vancouver-based Logan Resources also gained 62%, to close at 52. The company staked more ground near Ucluelet after finding a widespread anomalous gold occurrence on its Redford property, which it recently drilled. The company’s focus has turned to its Shell Creek copper-gold-uranium and Heidi gold-copper properties.
Be the first to comment on "Juniors show life signs"