TSX Venture Exchange

The TSX Venture Exchange collected itself and resumed its forward march. After falling four straight days the week before, the holiday shortened period saw the index climb 31 points to 1,276.71 points, on the back of renewed enthusiasm for commodities.

The move came after the European Central Bank (ECB) said it would buy an unlimited amount of bonds from the faltering European nations — if they ask for assistance and agree to austerity. The ECB said it would offset buying and sell other assets to temper inflation. The resource-heavy venture exchange was also helped by news from south of the border. While U.S. employment numbers were worse than expected, it redoubled investors’ belief that the Federal Reserve would pursue another round of stimulus, which would be good for commodities.

The market got behind Bitterroot Resources and its nickel, copper and platinum group metal properties in Michigan. The company’s shares were up 200% to 12¢ after it reported having finished an aeromagnetic survey. Much of the attention can be attributed to its neighbour, Rio Tinto. Rio recently completed land acquisitions and drilling on linked land parcels in Bitterroot — some of Rio Tinto’s drill collars are as close as 180 metres to Bitterroot’s mineral rights. The company says its survey identified targets that could host conduit dyke systems similar to Rio’s Eagle deposit, which contains 3.2 million tonnes grading 3.89% nickel and 3.04% copper. The Eagle mine is under construction, with full production expected by 2014.

Giyani Gold also enjoyed a strong run as its share price climbed 28¢ to $1.29 after the company announced its drills struck the projected down-plunge of the Klein Letaba gold deposit in South Africa. The intercept came at 187 metres vertical depth and returned 15.1 metres grading 13.16 grams gold. Giyani says the intercept proves its deposits extend at depth beyond historic Klein Letaba mine workings. While it says more holes are needed to establish true thickness, it added that the zone occurs in basalts with ultramafic affinity below a sedimentary unit, which is similar to a number of gold deposits in the Timmins-Porcupine area in Ontario.

The market didn’t respond nearly as well to Uravan Minerals’ drill results. The company saw its share price fall by 69% to 10¢ after it released results from its Halliday Lake uranium project in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin. While Uravan says the five diamond drill holes returned anomalous measures of radioactivity, none were at “quantitative levels.” Anomalous radioactivity can indicate mineralization, but no economic uranium was hit in the drill program.

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