TSX Venture down, April 12-16

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index fell 1.55% to finish the trading week at 944.46. Spot gold rose US$32.30 per oz., or 1.85%, to US$1,776.50 per ounce.

Gold Mountain Mining climbed 48¢ to $1.92 per share. The company reported high-grade intercepts from the down-dip portion of its Phase 1 drill program on its 100%-owned Elk gold project in south-central British Columbia, about 325 km northeast of Vancouver. Highlights included drillhole SND20-029, which intersected 1.42 metres grading 37 grams gold per tonne starting from 250 metres; hole SDN20-032, which returned 1.22 metres of 16.23 grams gold from 265.5 metres; and hole SND20-022, which cut 0.65 metres of 13.77 grams gold from 99.5 metres. According to the junior gold and silver exploration company, the latest assay results continue to demonstrate the potential to expand the current resource at depth, with 100% of all drill holes encountering significant mineralised intercepts.

Shares of Aurania Resources rose 40¢ to $2.75. The company reported results from its first channel rock-chip sampling at the 15-km-long Tiria-Shimpia silver-zinc zone in the central portion of its Lost Cities-Cutucu project in southeastern Ecuador. The company said seven mineralised layers had been identified and could be traced laterally for between 500 metres and 1,100 metres. “Earliest indications were that we could be dealing with a simple vein system of limited mineral volume,” Keith Barron, the company’s CEO, stated in a press release. “We are now very much aware that we are dealing with a different beast … [the] Tiria-Shimpia zone is shaping up to be Aurania’s first discovery.” Aurania has also completed additional soil sampling that has expanded the area in which silver and zinc have been found in the Tiria-Shimpia target area by about 120% since soil results were last reported in February. At the same time, the company is running concurrent drill programs at its Tsenken N1 and Kuri-Yawi targets, both of which the company said would give it exposure to additional discoveries.

Nouveau Monde Graphite dropped $1.65 to $14.34 per share. The company announced the launch of its climate action plan, which includes the development of 100% renewable electric mining operations at its Matawinie graphite project in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Quebec. When operational, this will result in 82% less direct greenhouse gas emissions from mining, the company said. Nouveau Monde is also collaborating to develop electric systems and infrastructure for heavy vehicles to be used in open-pit mining. In addition, the use of hydroelectricity as the project’s exclusive energy source will further reduce the project’s future carbon footprint, the company said. “Nouveau Monde intends to become the Western World’s first vertically-integrated, carbon-neutral anode materials producer of scale, coming to market during 2023 with our Matawinie graphite products.”