Metals drop prompts junior board correction

After climbing for almost three straight months, the TSX Venture Composite Index reversed course and closed the Feb. 7-13 trading session down 166.68 points or 6.4% at 2,439.81. Average daily trading volumes also fell over the week to 77.5 million shares.

The weekly volume leader was Colombian-focused coal developer Coalcorp Mining, which traded over 24.6 million shares, but dropped 28, or 35%, to close at 52. The company recently completed a $180-million financing and concluded the planned acquisition of its Colombian coal portfolio, including the producing La Francia and La Caypa mines as well as a port facility at Cartagena. The company also holds the La Curubita metallurgical coal project.

Yukon Zinc grabbed second place among the week’s top traders, although it lost 20%, or 13, to close at 52 on volume of 14.8 million shares. A slight softening in metal prices — specifically zinc slipping back below the US$1-per-lb. level — precipitated the retreat. The prospective miner recently arranged a loan and hedging agreement for its Wolverine zinc-copper-lead deposit in the Yukon, where a feasibility study is nearing completion.

Uranium explorer Consolidated Abaddon Resources traded 8.4 million shares over the session, to close up 11 at 41 per share. The company recently closed a small private-placement financing and is conducting geophysical programs at its Mann Lake project in the eastern Athabasca basin in Saskatchewan.

Alberta Star Development traded almost 7.2 million shares on the week, remaining even to close at $1.37. The company has signed a co-operation agreement with First Nations groups covering its Great Bear Lake-region projects in the Northwest Territories, and received permits to drill at its Contact Lake IOCG-silver-uranium project near Port Radium.

Aspiring Canadian tungsten developer Playfair Mining saw over 5.5 million shares change hands while dropping 20%, or 23, to close at 91 per share. It holds three advanced-stage properties that host historical resources. The Grey River project in Newfoundland is its most advanced, as it hosts underground workings from past-planned mining operations.

Shares of junior producer ECU Silver Mining gained three pennies to close at 73 on volume of 5.3 million over the week. Underground sampling at its Santa Juana mine, in Mexico’s Durango state, has identified a fifth mineralized vein structure.

Stellar Pacific Ventures gave back some of its recent gains, closing down 35.5% at 19 per share on volume of 4.7 million. Its acquisition of the Opinaca claim group, adjacent to Virginia Gold’s lonore project in the James Bay region of Quebec, sparked investor interest.

Shares of Aurcana retreated 35% or a dime, to close at 18.5 on volume of 3.2 million. The company recently signed a letter of intent to acquire an 80% interest in the past-producing La Negra silver-zinc-copper-lead mine in Queretaro state, Mexico.