TSX Venture ends Aug. 22-26 trading session down slightly

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index drifted slightly lower over the Aug. 8-12 trading session by 0.6% or 3.99 points to end the week at 645.92. 

Shares in lithium developer Sigma Lithium rose $5.98 or 23.4% during the session to end at $31.53 apiece. 

Sigma continues with construction of its Grota do Cirilo spodumene project in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, with commissioning of the first-phase plant expected to begin in December. On Aug. 19, it announced it had recruited Brian Talbot, previously chief operating officer of Australian lithium miner Galaxy Resources (now Allkem) as its new COO. 

The US$123.1-million first phase of the project is expected to produce 270,000 tonnes of battery grade lithium concentrate (36,700 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent [LCE]) annually for a period of eight years. A feasibility study released in April forecast the after-tax net present value at US$1.6 billion (at an 8% discount rate) and its internal rate of return at 424%.  

Uranium stocks got a boost during the week, with IsoEnergy closing the period at $3.63, up 60¢ or 19.8% and Uranium Royalty ending 59¢ or 18.9% higher at $3.70 per share. 

While neither company released news during the period, they (and other uranium stocks) were buoyed by the Aug. 24 announcement by Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that the country would restart more nuclear plants and invest in developing next-generation reactors. 

In July, IsoEnergy announced an initial resource estimate for the Hurricane deposit at its Larocque East project in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin. Indicated resources total 63,800 tonnes grading 34.5% U3O8 for 48.6 million lb. of U3O8. Inferred resources add 54,300 tonnes grading 2.2% U3O8 for 2.7 million lb. of uranium oxide. The company holds a portfolio of 24 projects in the Athabasca Basin. 

Uranium Royalty holds royalties on 15 assets in various stages of exploration, development and production in Canada, the U.S. and Namibia, as well as physical uranium. 

Los Andes Copper shed 21¢ from its share price, ending the session at $14.50. The company, which is advancing its Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum project in Chile towards a prefeasibility study in the fourth quarter, announced a $5-million convertible debenture investment by Queen’s Road Capital on Aug. 25. 

The company received a court decision in July that it could restart drilling at Vizcachitas, located about 120 km north of Santiago, with certain restrictions. Its 18,000-metre drill program, which began last year, was suspended in March 2022 by an environmental court order. The order was related to the potential impact of the program on the habitat of  the viscacha (a small rodent), which is a food source for the threatened Andean cat. 

The project hosts measured and indicated resources of 1.3 billion tonnes grading 0.396% copper, 141.4 parts per million (ppm) molybdenum, and 1.05 ppm silver.