TSX Venture Exchange – NOVEMBER 10-16

In a global climate of cautious economic optimism, paced by regular nervous setbacks, the S&P/TSX Venture composite index performed as best it could over the Nov. 10-16 reporting period, finishing up 22.46 points at 1,377.94. Daily trading volumes remained strong, averaging 118 million shares.

The dominance of optimism showed in the ratio of junior companies reaching new 52-week share price highs compared with those falling to new lows. The Venture index produced 114 such bulls over the week, compared with only 25 bears.

The biggest news of the week from Canadian juniors was Goldcorp’s $238-million, all-share takeover offer for Canplats Resources. The major offered to exchange each Canplats share for 0.074 of a Goldcorp share, plus a share in a new exploration company; the offer values Canplats at $3.60 a share, a 41% premium over its closing price on Nov. 13. Goldcorp wants the junior for its Camino Rojo project, a gold discovery 50 km south of the major’s operating Penasquito mine that, after just two years of exploration, is already home to 4 million oz. gold and 61 million oz. silver. Canplats’ share price jumped 37% on the news to close at $3.51.

A prefeasibility study concluded Avanti Mining could produce a pound of molybdenum for US$4.43 if the company spends US$641 million to reopen the historic Kitsault molybdenum mine in northern British Columbia. Kitsault’s 215.3 million tonnes of proven and probable reserves grading 0.085% molybdenum could support a 40,000-tonne-per-day operation for 15 years. Avanti gained 8.5¢ on the news, reaching a new high of 25¢.

Brett Resources also gained on news of a positive economic study, this one a preliminary assessment of Brett’s Hammond Reef gold project near Atikokan, Ont. Based on an inferred resource of 259.4 million tonnes grading 0.8 gram gold, the study determined an open-pit mine at Hammond Reef could produce 5.1 million oz. gold over a 14-year mine life, at an average cash cost of US$414 per oz. On the news, Brett shares gained 24¢ in three days to close the week at $1.56.

Another set of impressive results from International Tower Hill Mines’ Livengood gold project pushed the company’s shares up 44¢ to a new high of $6.89. The results continued to expand the eastern half of the deposit with intercepts like 134 metres grading 0.97 gram gold and 44 metres of 1.5 grams gold. In addition, Tower Hill’s drills hit new mineralization in the Northwest zone: a 15-metre intercept grading 3.7 grams gold extended the mineralized zone 500 metres to the west.

Looking to become the next big name in African diamonds, Lucara Diamond inked a deal to buy De Beers’ 70% stake in the AK6 project for $49 million. AK6 is a development-stage project in Botswana’s Orapa district that comes with a mining licence for an open-pit operation.

The junior’s share price gained 9¢ on the news to reach $1.15.

TSX-V most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Avion Res	AVR	20182	0.50	0.41	0.49	+ 0.07
Canplats Res	CPQ	19084	3.60	2.25	3.51	+ 0.96
Explor Res	EXS	11994	0.67	0.41	0.66	+ 0.25
Allana Res	AAA	10595	0.40	0.31	0.33	-0.06
Amador Gold	AGX	8369	0.10	0.08	0.09	+ 0.01
Terrane Metals	TRX	8363	1.18	0.95	1.16	+ 0.15
Eagle Rock Ex	ERX	7907	0.18	0.16	0.17	0.00
Global Hunter	BOB	7475	0.09	0.06	0.09	-0.03
First Point	FPX	7162	0.20	0.09	0.19	+ 0.06
Great Western	GWG	6920	0.30	0.23	0.27	-0.02

TSX-V greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Candorado Oper	CDO	6534	0.13	0.05	0.09	+200.0
Intl Northair	INM	1570	0.21	0.14	0.21	+ 90.9
Avanti Mng	AVT	2420	0.25	0.14	0.25	+ 78.5
Pachamama Res	PMA	463	0.49	0.20	0.32	+ 68.4
Redhawk Res	RDK	2886	0.31	0.18	0.28	+ 64.7
Shoreham Res	SMH	1628	0.32	0.19	0.29	+ 61.1
St Elias Mns	SLI	1126	0.33	0.19	0.29	+ 61.1
Explor Res	EXS	11994	0.67	0.41	0.66	+ 60.9
Melkior Res	MKR	2257	0.35	0.22	0.32	+ 52.3
Black Bull Res	BBS	40	0.03	0.02	0.03	+ 50.0
Thunder Sword	THU	40	0.07	0.04	0.04	-42.8
Emerick Res	ERC	105	0.42	0.31	0.31	-41.5
Taranis Res	TRO	25	0.09	0.08	0.08	-38.4
Merc Intl Mnls	MRK	1096	0.39	0.23	0.25	-34.2
Nyah Res	NRU	200	0.05	0.04	0.04	-33.3
Intl Millm Mng	IMI	206	0.08	0.06	0.06	-33.3
Rocky Mtn Res	RKY	84	0.39	0.31	0.31	-31.1
Cypress Dev	CYP	5310	0.23	0.14	0.16	-30.4
Trio Gold Corp	TGK	235	0.10	0.07	0.07	-30.0
Gold World Res	GDW	1165	0.07	0.05	0.05	-28.5

TSX-V greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Canplats Res	CPQ	19084068	3.51	+ 0.96
Clifton Star	CFO	302379	3.11	+ 0.76
Intl Tower Hil	ITH	1528731	6.89	+ 0.44
Bear Creek Mng	BCM	993923	4.16	+ 0.42
Rare Elemnt Rs	RES	456414	3.84	+ 0.40
Quest Uranium	QUC	1619905	2.62	+ 0.34
Energold Drill	EGD	1319561	2.64	+ 0.29
Explor Res	EXS	11994215	0.66	+ 0.25
Maudore Minls	MAO	586917	3.60	+ 0.25
Contintl Mnls	KMK	2619051	2.08	+ 0.25
Pac Booker Min	BKM	14491	7.50	-0.37
SouthGobi Engy	SGQ	282272	14.15	-0.35
Intl Wayside G	WYG	1764400	0.90	-0.23
Emerick Res	ERC	105384	0.31	-0.22
Canadn Shield	EXP	15225	0.72	-0.19
Troon Vent	TVN	14000	0.81	-0.15
Salazar Res	SRL	355731	1.00	-0.14
Rocky Mtn Res	RKY	83900	0.31	-0.14
Macarthur Mnl	MMS	40040	0.85	-0.14
Merc Intl Mnls	MRK	1095600	0.25	-0.13