TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE MARCH 25-31

After a few tumultuous weeks, the S&P-TSX Venture Composite Index managed to post a gain in the final week of March, rising 35.81 points over the March 25-31 trading session to close at 2,617.56. Average daily trading volumes increased over the session, with an average of 82.3 million shares.

Despite the board’s modest overall gain, bears still dominated the market. Over the session, 193 juniors fell to 52-week share price lows, while only 14 posted new annual highs.

Peak Gold grabbed top trader status for the second week running, this time sparked by news of a three-way merger with Metallica Resources and New Gold to create an intermediate gold company with a market capitalization of about US$1.6 billion. The new entity, to be called New Gold, will have mines in Australia, Brazil, and Mexico, and development projects in Canada and Chile. Peak Gold traded 41.9 million shares over the session, the majority of which moved following news of the merger, and closed up 10 at 68.

Investors flocked to Serengeti Resources after news that its Kwanika project in central B. C. returned 610 metres grading 0.74% copper, 0.78 gram gold per tonne, and 1.8 grams silver starting at 131 metres depth. Over the next four days, Serengeti moved 19.5 million shares to close up 75 or 125% at $1.30.

Hot drill core from its Midwest NorthEast uranium property in Saskatchewan had Hathor Exploration rising on the week. The junior released gamma ray scintillometer results from seven drill holes sunk close to the site’s discovery hole, which returned 11.9 metres grading 5.2% U3O8. Over the session, Hathor traded 10.2 million shares to close up 33 at $2.39.

Strong results from five holes into the Poncha gold-copper project in San Juan, Argentina, boosted Golden Arrow Resources by 16 over the session to close at 72 on 9.95 million shares traded. Assays included 266 metres grading 1.21 grams gold and 3.3 grams silver and 61 metres grading 3.04 grams gold and 7.93 grams silver.

New Millennium Capital saw such unusually high trading activity over the session that it issued a news release to say that the company had not actually done anything. The junior moved 7.59 million shares over the session and closed up 64 or 44% at $1.89. New Millennium is seeking investment and offtake commitments from potential partners to allow it to develop one of its iron ore projects, which are located in Quebec and Labrador.

Xemplar Energy lost 54 over the week to close at $1.71 on no news. In mid-March, the junior closed a brokered $19.7-million financing to fund exploration on the company’s five uranium exploration properties in Namibia.

Similarly, Salazar Resources released no news but fell 45 to close at 90. The company, which is focused on exploration in Ecuador, has lost more than 75% of its share price since mid-September, when its stock hit $4.