Concerns that some European countries too saddled with debt to shake free from the recession will slow the global recovery continued to hurt the S&P-TSX Venture composite index over the Feb 2-8 trading week. The board, unable to recover from a single-day loss of 61.8 points or 4%, ended the week down 43.3 points at 1460.6. Daily trading volumes remained strong, averaging 104 million.
For months, Venture bulls have far outweighed bears, in terms of the number of juniors reaching new 52-week share price highs versus those falling to new lows. In the first week of February the race drew close, with 45 Venture-listed companies reaching new share price highs while 40 fell to new lows.
Shares of First Gold Exploration continued their wild ride, ending the week down 26¢ at 45¢ after gaining as much as 43¢ to reach 68¢ in late January. The company is drilling at its Pivert-Rose lithium-rare earth element property in west-central Quebec and recently pulled its best intercept to date from the ground: 13.4 metres grading 1.5% Li2O, 2,755 grams rubidium per tonne, 290 grams T2O5, and 155 grams beryllium per tonne. First Gold was also the most heavily traded stock on the Venture exchange for the week, moving more than 21 million shares.
Without announcing any news, Botswanafocused explorer Tsodilo Resources jumped 73¢ or 65% to reach $1.85. Tsodilo’s main focus is the Newdico diamond project in northwestern Botswana, where magnetic surveys and follow-up drilling identified two kimberlites last year.
Strong scintillometer readings from four of the first five holes at Fission Energy’s Waterbury Lake project have the company’s share price up as much as 250% since late January, jumping from 18¢ to 63¢ before settling to 47¢. Core from second hole of the season sent the radioactivity metre off the chart; Fission then followed up with three additional holes to define the new J zone and all three also produced significant scintillometer results. Assay results are not yet available. Waterbury Lake is directly adjacent to Hathor Exploration’s high-grade MidWest Northeast uranium discovery.
With the arrangement of a $50-million bought-deal financing, Gleichen Resources is but a breath away from owning 100% of the Morelos gold project in Mexico’s Guerrero state, home to 28.8 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 3.2 grams gold plus 8.7 million inferred tonnes at the same grade. Gleichen arranged to buy Teck Resources’ 78.8% interest in August for $150 million, when the junior had essentially no cash, and raised $241 million in a special warrant financing to complete the deal. More recently Gleichen exercised its right of first refusal to buy Goldcorp’s 21.2% stake in the project for $44.5 million; the new $50-million financing should give it the capital it needs for the deal.
| TSX-V most active issues | ||||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | |||||
| (000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| First Gold Exp | EFG | 21342 | 0.81 | 0.45 | 0.47 | -0.26 |
| Appleton Expl | AEX | 19810 | 0.35 | 0.19 | 0.21 | -0.13 |
| IBC Adv Alloys | IB | 13561 | 0.30 | 0.14 | 0.20 | + 0.05 |
| Sandstorm Res | SSL | 11077 | 0.65 | 0.56 | 0.62 | + 0.06 |
| Gleichen Res | GRL | 10797 | 1.11 | 0.92 | 0.98 | -0.10 |
| Encore Ren Res | EZ | 9612 | 0.17 | 0.14 | 0.16 | + 0.02 |
| Journey Res | JNY | 8661 | 0.09 | 0.06 | 0.09 | + 0.01 |
| TagishLkGold | TLG | 8118 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.00 |
| Victoria Gold | VIT | 7989 | 1.01 | 0.84 | 0.87 | + 0.03 |
| Explor Res | EXS | 7396 | 1.26 | 0.85 | 1.05 | -0.16 |
| TSX-V greatest percentage change | ||||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | |||||
| (000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Global Minls | CTG | 960 | 0.38 | 0.17 | 0.31 | + 93.7 |
| Tsodilo Res | TSD | 299 | 2.00 | 1.04 | 1.85 | + 65.1 |
| Garrison Intl | GAU | 136 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.03 | + 50.0 |
| Kivalliq Enrgy | KIV | 3982 | 0.45 | 0.26 | 0.42 | + 50.0 |
| Augyva Mng | AUV | 452 | 0.16 | 0.11 | 0.16 | + 45.4 |
| Dios Expl | DOS | 1555 | 0.26 | 0.17 | 0.23 | + 35.2 |
| Golconda Res | GA | 220 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.08 | + 33.3 |
| IBC Adv Alloys | IB | 13561 | 0.30 | 0.14 | 0.20 | + 33.3 |
| Midasco Cap | MGC | 310 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.04 | + 33.3 |
| Module Res | MLE | 152 | 0.12 | 0.08 | 0.12 | + 33.3 |
| Digger Res | DIG | 19 | 0.35 | 0.24 | 0.24 | -46.6 |
| Windarra Minls | WRA | 47 | 0.14 | 0.12 | 0.12 | -40.0 |
| Appleton Expl | AEX | 19810 | 0.35 | 0.19 | 0.21 | -38.2 |
| Silvore Fox Ml | SFX | 98 | 0.14 | 0.09 | 0.09 | -35.7 |
| First Gold Exp | EFG | 21342 | 0.81 | 0.45 | 0.47 | -35.6 |
| Thelon Vent | THV | 1674 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.02 | -33.3 |
| Tanqueray Res | TQY | 141 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.04 | -33.3 |
| Pac Coast Nikl | NKL | 103 | 0.07 | 0.04 | 0.04 | -33.3 |
| Unor Inc | UNI | 3865 | 0.06 | 0.04 | 0.04 | -33.3 |
| Finlay Minrls | FYL | 445 | 0.12 | 0.09 | 0.09 | -30.7 |
| TSX-V greatest value change | ||||
| WEEK | ||||
| VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Tsodilo Res | TSD | 299194 | 1.85 | + 0.73 |
| Maudore Minls | MAO | 120601 | 3.40 | + 0.25 |
| Centurion Mnls | CTN | 54200 | 0.67 | + 0.16 |
| Bridgeport Ven | BPV | 144220 | 2.55 | + 0.15 |
| Global Minls | CTG | 959664 | 0.31 | + 0.15 |
| Kivalliq Enrgy | KIV | 3981582 | 0.42 | + 0.14 |
| Hana Mng | HMG | 2760518 | 1.62 | + 0.12 |
| Bralorne Gold | BPM | 60250 | 0.90 | + 0.10 |
| Eurasian Minls | EMX | 132400 | 1.76 | + 0.09 |
| Prophecy Res | PCY | 436600 | 0.48 | + 0.08 |
| Rainy River Rs | RR | 3717907 | 4.47 | -0.68 |
| East Asia Mnls | EAS | 2676270 | 3.01 | -0.39 |
| Quest Uranium | QUC | 776705 | 2.68 | -0.28 |
| First Gold Exp | EFG | 21342304 | 0.47 | -0.26 |
| Lions Gate Mtl | LGM | 13801 | 1.01 | -0.25 |
| Galway Res | GWY | 3372218 | 0.93 | -0.22 |
| Digger Res | DIG | 18900 | 0.24 | -0.21 |
| RareElemntRs | RES | 576643 | 3.43 | -0.20 |
| Energold Drill | EGD | 531986 | 2.10 | -0.20 |
| Noront Res | NOT | 5891293 | 1.40 | -0.18 |
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