TSX Venture Exchange, Aug. 12-16

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index was back in the green during the trading sessions — following two straight weeks of losses — after posting a 2.2%, or 20.14-point gain, en route to a 940.23-point weekly close. Strong commodity performances underpinned mid-week gains, with political upheaval in Egypt heightening concerns about oil supply.

Gold futures continued a recent run, with December contracts for bullion jumping during the week by 3.6%, or US$47.90, to US$1,376.30 per oz. October contracts for West Texas Intermediate rose 1.8%, or US$1.86, before closing out the week at US$107.69 per barrel, while copper rounded off a positive week for commodities with a US6.2¢ gain to US$3.36 per lb.

Joint-venture partners Alpha Minerals and Fission Uranium were standouts. Alpha led the value-added category with a $1.55 gain on 1.9 million shares traded before closing at $7.20 per share. Meanwhile Fission was the most actively traded company, with 31 million shares changing hands, as the stock jumped 32¢ to $1.42 per share.

The companies continue to release promising results from a US$6.9-million drill program at the Patterson Lake South (PLS) fifty-fifty joint venture in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin. On Aug. 15 they announced the discovery of a fourth zone of uranium mineralization and off-scale radioactivity on strike from three previously discovered zones, which lie along a trend that runs for over a kilometre.

The new zone at PLS — named R945E — sits 165 metres east of zone R780E, which had previously represented the easternmost extension on the zones. Discovery hole 13-84 returned 2.7 metres total composite off-scale mineralization, within 18 metres of total mineralization.

It was a good week for shareholders of junior producer SilverCrest Mines, as the company jumped 30¢ on 1.8 million shares before settling out the trading period at $1.95 per share. On Aug. 15 SilverCrest released its second-quarter results, which were highlighted by positive cash flow and net earnings at the company’s open-pit Santa Elena silver-gold mine, 150 km northeast of Hermosillo, Mexico.

SilverCrest reported that silver sales were up roughly 45% during the quarter, with 181,400 oz. silver sold along with 7,375 oz. gold for 647,500 equivalent oz. silver. The company reported net earnings of US$2.87 million, or 3¢ per share, on the back of revenues totalling US$13 million, despite a 24% drop in average realized silver prices to US$22 per oz.

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