Market news: TSX Venture Exchange

Christmas holidays kept things fairly quiet on the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index over the trading period, though the board notched small gains each day to end the session up 24.1 points at 1,201.84. Trading volumes were subdued, averaging 49 million trades per day.

One of the most actively traded stocks during the trading session was Copper Fox Metals, which saw its share price tumble down almost 24% in three days to 81¢. A feasibility study for the company’s Schaft Creek copper project in northwestern B.C. pegged capital costs at $3.26 billion, an investment that would build a 130,000-tonne-per-day mine producing 4.9 billion lb. copper, 4.2 million oz. gold, 214.9 million lb. molybdenum and 25.1 million oz. silver over a 21-year mine life. 

The holidays were much better for Kaminak Gold. In mid-December the junior announced a 3.2-million-oz.-gold inferred resource at its Coffee project in the Yukon, but investors remained nonplussed, leaving the company’s shares trading sideways for the next week. Then, on the last two days of the year, Kaminak got the reward it sought for its hard work: its share price bumped up 21% to reach $1.62.

Orefinders Resources found its feet over the shortened holiday week after debuting on the exchange just a few days before. The junior raised $5 million in its initial public offering, funds it will spend exploring the Mirado gold project near Kirkland Lake, Ont. Mirado saw more than 40,000 metres of surface and underground drilling from 1938 to 1987, though mineralization remains completely untested below a 150-metre depth. Orefinders’ share price spiked to 90¢ before settling back to 60¢.

Slam Exploration drilled nine new holes at its Menneval gold project in New Brunswick, and each one hit into a mineralized quartz vein six to 29 metres below surface. Assay results are pending, but Slam reported visible gold in one intercept. Hesitant investors are awaiting numbers and left Slam’s share price unchanged.

In Colombia, Bellhaven Copper & Gold expanded the limits of mineralization with results from eight new holes at its La Mina gold project, 45 km southwest of Medellin. Five holes tested geochemical targets north of known resources, returning intercepts that included 79 metres grading 0.31 gram gold per tonne, 0.1% copper and 2.1 grams silver per tonne, with another two holes undercutting historic mine workings to the west that returned short, mineralized hits. The market was neither impressed nor dismayed, keeping Bellhaven shares even at 14¢ apiece.

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TSX-V most active issues

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Benton Res	BTC	8012	0.09	0.07	0.08	+	0.01
Plains Ck Phos	PCP	5903	0.02	0.01	0.02		0
Cerro Res	CJO	4268	0.16	0.14	0.14		0
Victoria Gold	VIT	3919	0.25	0.22	0.23	–	0.02
Brilliant Res	BLT	3730	0.09	0.08	0.09	+	0.01
Orko Silver	OK	3725	2.4	2.29	2.33	+	0.04
Canaco Res	CAN	3408	0.41	0.38	0.41	+	0.01
Terraco Gold	TEN	3365	0.18	0.16	0.18		0
Copper Fox Mtl	CUU	3127	0.95	0.68	0.81	–	0.25
Catalyst Coppr	CCY	2715	0.06	0.05	0.05		0

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TSX-V greatest percentage change

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Kestrel Gold	KGC	352	0.09	0.04	0.09	+	157.1
Westcan Uran	WCU	79	0.01	0.01	0.01	+	100
Kenieba Goldf	KEN	150	0.02	0.01	0.02	+	100
Meritus Mnls	MER	47	0.01	0.01	0.01	+	100
RPT Uranium	RPT	2331	0.01	0.01	0.01	+	100
Williams Creek	WCX	182	0.37	0.19	0.36	+	100
Takara Res	TKK	177	0.01	0.01	0.01	+	100
Zinco Mng	ZIM	121	0.15	0.12	0.12	+	84.6
Threegold Res	THG	1425	0.06	0.04	0.06	+	71.4
El Condor Mnls	LCO	1032	0.05	0.04	0.05	+	66.6
Galahad Mtls	GAX	53	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	50
Regent Vents	REV	289	0.02	0.01	0.01	–	50
Millstream Min	MLM	216	0.02	0.01	0.01	–	50
Silver Fields	SF	32	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	50
Nevada Geo Pow	NGP	170	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	50
New Guinea Gld	NGG	315	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	50
Greenock Res	GKR	14	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	50
Gold Ridge Exp	GEA	21	0.05	0.05	0.05	–	50
Altan Rio Mnls	AMO	471	0.18	0.09	0.09	–	40
Northern Abiti	NAI	32	0.02	0.02	0.02	–	40

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TSX-V greatest value change

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Company	Symbol	Change	Close	Change
Chesapeake Gld	CKG	39559	8.52	+	0.32
Lumina Copper	LCC	135306	9.33	+	0.24
Palladon Vent	PLL	14898	1.83	+	0.23
Kaminak Gold	KAM	735312	1.51	+	0.21
Northern Graph	NGC	1725978	1.23	+	0.21
Williams Creek	WCX	182147	0.36	+	0.18
Bear Creek Mng	BCM	147655	3.08	+	0.14
Aurcana Corp	AUN	2099778	0.94	+	0.14
Northquest	NQ	32460	0.7	+	0.13
SilverCrest Mn	SVL	300698	2.47	+	0.13
Copper Fox Mtl	CUU	3127093	0.81	–	0.25
Rugby Mng	RUG	18500	0.32	–	0.08
Flinders Res	FDR	134950	1.08	–	0.07
Maudore Minls	MAO	86524	1.45	–	0.07
Kesselrun Res	KES	55125	0.4	–	0.07
Altan Rio Mnls	AMO	471291	0.09	–	0.06
Probe Mines	PRB	109461	1.84	–	0.06
Cayden Res	CYD	83400	1.31	–	0.05
Dios Expl	DOS	138500	0.13	–	0.05
Bralorne Gold	BPM	20227	0.75	–	0.05