TSX Venture Exchange february 21-27

Stronger precious metal prices helped the junior-resource-dominated S&P-TSX Venture Composite Index inch up 4.15 points to close the Feb. 21-27 trading session at 2,543.33. Average daily trading volume also climbed to 67.5 million shares.

The bullish trend continued over the week, with 89 junior exploration companies rising to new 52-week highs, and 16 explorers slumping to new annual lows.

Trading 12.3 million shares over the session, Cantex Mine Development led in volume, gaining 7.5, or 83%, to close at 16.5. Assays from drilling on its Suwar nickel project in Yemen returned 11.3 metres of 1.1% nickel and 0.5% copper, including an 8.1-metre intercept of 1.5% nickel and 0.67% copper in massive to disseminated sulphides.

A hot drill hole on its Garnet Lake project in northwestern Ontario lifted shares of Tribute Minerals by 218% to close 24 higher at 35 on volume of over 10.5 million. The first hole of the season cut 5.4 metres of 18.3% zinc, 0.7% copper, 0.5 gram gold per tonne and 25.7 grams silver per tonne, plus significant indium and gallium values in VMS-style mineralization.

Heavily touted Staccato Gold rallied 71%, or 57, to close the week at $1.37 per share on volume of 7.9 million. The company completed a third drill hole on the Lookout Mountain target at its South Eureka project in Nevada’s Cortez trend. No assays have been released but the company reports favourable geology in all holes so far.

Arctic Star Diamond traded 6.5 million shares on the session, up 4.5 to close at 25.5 per share. The company reports encouraging results starting to trickle in from last year’s indicator mineral sampling on its Credit Lake project, adjacent to the Ekati mine in the Northwest Territories. The company has also lined up a $2.85-million financing.

Strong trader Coalcorp Mining saw volume of 6.3 million shares, shedding four pennies to close at 61. A recently completed $207-million financing has bolstered its treasury for the planned acquisition of Colombian coal projects and a port facility.

Typhoon Exploration gained 32%, or 15, to close at 62 per share on volume of over 6.2 million shares. Assays are pending on four drill holes completed at its Fayolle gold property near Rouyn-Noranda in northwestern Quebec.

A 13.4-metre drill intercept grading 29.3 grams gold from its Birch Crossing project, in the La Ronge area of northern Saskatchewan, boosted shares of Golden Band Resources up 67%, or 18.5, to close at 46 on trading of over 5 million shares.

After spiking to almost $2.00 in mid-January, shares of Bravo Venture Group slid further, down over 27% on the week, to close at 77 apiece with no news.

High-grade results from initial core drilling at the Million Mountain gold project, in central Guyana, added $1.15 to the share price of Sacre-Coeur Minerals, which closed the week at $2.65 on volume of 1.5 million shares. A 16.5-metre interval averaged 14.9 grams gold and included higher-grade sections.

TSX-V most active issues

		VOLUME (000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Cantex Mn Dev	CD	12332	0.165	0.08	0.165	+0.075
Tribute Minls	TBM	10572	0.43	0.11	0.35	+0.24
Staccato Gold	CAT	7901	1.37	0.84	1.37	+0.57
Arctic Star Di	ADD	6492	0.29	0.185	0.255	+0.045
Coalcorp Mng	CCJ	6319	0.66	0.60	0.61	-0.04
Typhoon Expl	TOO	5644	0.72	0.465	0.62	+0.15
Yukon Zinc	YZC	5578	0.55	0.50	0.52	0.00
Cangold	CLD	5332	0.135	0.08	0.13	+0.05
Golden Band	GBN	5029	0.48	0.255	0.46	+0.185
Redhawk Res	RDK	4335	0.67	0.54	0.57	-0.06

TSX-V greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Palmarejo Gold	PJO	159613	8.40	+ 1.20
Sacre-Coeur Ml	SCM	1502194	2.65	+ 1.15
Bear Creek Mng	BCM	1655005	4.90	+ 0.95
Nova Uranium	NUC	1595857	3.56	+ 0.76
Primary Metals	PMI	218615	5.40	+ 0.65
Staccato Gold	CAT	7901123	1.37	+ 0.57
Mansfld Mnrls	MDR	1591228	1.22	+ 0.44
Mexgold Res	MGR	418175	6.14	+ 0.44
Mag Silver	MAG	853518	3.63	+ 0.44
IMA Exploratn	IMR	707898	3.85	+ 0.39
Seabridge Gold	SEA	35348	8.91	– 0.89
Contact Expl	CEX	258173	1.98	– 0.77
Western Prospc	WNP	509630	4.20	– 0.69
Laramide Res	LAM	933764	4.83	– 0.62
Northern Dyn M	NDM	479940	6.85	– 0.50
Corridor Res	CDH	135980	3.99	– 0.36
Anaconda Gold	ANX	798726	0.50	– 0.32
Pan Oce Exp	POE	233120	2.73	– 0.31
Bravo Vent	BVG	1543787	0.77	– 0.29
Titan Uranium	TUE	593258	1.55	– 0.24

TSX-V greatest percentage change

VOLUME (000s)

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		HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Tribute Minls	TBM	10572	0.43	0.11	0.35	+218.1
Cantex Mn Dev	CD	12332	0.165	0.08	0.165	+83.3
Becker Gold M	BGD	65	0.20	0.135	0.20	+81.8
Carpathian Gld	CPN	3955	0.31	0.165	0.285	+78.1
Sacre-Coeur Ml	SCM	1502	2.75	1.65	2.65	+76.6
Augyva Mng	AUV	695	0.26	0.14	0.24	+71.4
Staccato Gold	CAT	7901	1.37	0.84	1.37	+71.2
Golden Band	GBN	5029	0.48	0.255	0.46	+67.2
Sanu Res	SNU	292	0.75	0.42	0.71	+65.1
Cangold	CLD	5332	0.135	0.08	0.13	+62.5
Anaconda Gold	ANX	799	0.82	0.45	0.50	-39.0
Contact Expl	CEX	258	2.75	1.82	1.98	-28.0
Bravo Vent	BVG	1544	1.05	0.73	0.77	-27.3
Newport Expl	NWX	66	0.205	0.17	0.17	-26.0
Waseco Res	WRI	1387	0.27	0.185	0.19	-25.4
Cons Gd Thun R	GHG	17	0.155	0.15	0.15	-25.0
Senator Minls	SNR	116	0.16	0.14	0.14	-22.2
MBA Gold	MBA	62	0.16	0.125	0.125	-21.8
Citadel Gold	CGM.H	532	0.315	0.22	0.25	-20.6
Au Martinique	AUU	136	0.25	0.19	0.20	-20.0