Tsx Venture Exchange March 20-26

With base and precious metals notching up over the March 20-26 trading session, the S&P-TSX Venture Composite Index took back some ground to gain 99.29 points, closing at 3,175.03. Average daily trading volume improved over the week to 81.4 million shares.

The junior mining market took a decidedly bullish turn on the week with 58 explorers reaching new 52-week highs versus 33 that slipped to yearly lows.

Aspiring nickel miner Crowflight Minerals grabbed top trading honours for the week with 25.5 million shares changing hands to close up 23, or 38%, at 83 per share. An update to the bankable feasibility study on its Bucko Lake nickel deposit in northern Manitoba shows a $44-million boost in the project’s net present value.

Penny trader Sonora Gold jumped 56% on no news, up a nickel to 14 per share on trading volume of almost 22 million shares. The company is partnered with Teck Cominco on the San Enrique copper-molybdenum-gold project in northwestern Mexico. Drill plans were also recently tabled for Sonora’s RHG porphyry copper-gold project in B.C.

Bard Ventures continued to garner market interest with 19.8 million shares changing hands, trading up two pennies at 35 per share. Further assays from the company’s Lone Pine project in northern B.C., where it recently intersected a wide molybdenum interval, are anticipated shortly. The company also plans a $3-million brokered private placement.

IBI Corp. traded 18.1 million shares on the week, gaining a penny to close at 5.5 per share. It recently closed the sale of its Ugandan vermiculite mine to Rio Tinto and began exploration on uranium projects, also in the east African country.

With molybdenum moving back over the US$30-per-lb. level, the market took notice of Torch River Resources and its Red Bird porphyry moly-copper project in B.C. The junior’s stock rallied 141% to close at 65 per share on trading volume of 17.9 million.

Tenajon Resources gained 46% over the week to close up 18 at 57 per share on trading volume of almost 17.8 million. A new resource estimate on the Silver Coin project near Stewart, B.C., significantly increased the amount of contained gold on the company’s Kansas claim, under option to Pinnacle Mines and Mountain Boy Minerals.

Pacific Comox Resources shot up 100% on the week to close at 17 per share on trading volume of 16.5 million shares. The explorer has been focused on its Ryan Lake copper-molybdenum project in northeastern Ontario, though no news was released.

Trading in Mustang Minerals perked up, with 12 million shares traded and a 32% gain on the week. The stock closed up 23 at 96 per share on recent news that a prefeasibility study has begun on the company’s Maskwa nickel project in southeastern Manitoba.

Adanac Molybdenum surged 72 on the week to close up at $2.28 per share on trading volume of 6.7 million shares. A revised resource estimate for Adanac’s Ruby Creek project in northern B.C. shows a modest boost in contained molybdenum.

TSX-V greatest percentage change

		VOLUME	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Torch Rvr Res	TCR	17893	0.70	0.28	0.65	+	140.7
Silverstone wt	SST_T	536	0.45	0.195	0.42	+	115.3
Azteca Gold	AZG	469	0.90	0.35	0.71	+	105.8
Western Troy C	WRY	945	0.90	0.38	0.80	+	105.1
Pac Comox	PCM	16539	0.19	0.085	0.17	+	100.0
Northern Abiti	NAI	8540	0.15	0.075	0.145	+	93.3
Galway Res	GWY	3067	1.60	0.84	1.45	+	70.5
Sultan Mnrls	SUL	4882	0.265	0.16	0.265	+	60.6
Molycor Gold	MOR	12049	0.30	0.15	0.235	+	56.6
Maudore Minls	MAO	557	1.40	0.87	1.36	+	56.3
Luxor Ind	LRL	12	0.065	0.065	0.065	–	31.5
Mandorin Goldf	MGD	8230	0.075	0.05	0.06	–	29.4
Adroit Res	ADT	15	0.30	0.25	0.25	–	28.5
Gold World Res	GDW	169	0.17	0.15	0.165	–	28.2
Mountain-Wst R	MWR	72	0.195	0.18	0.18	–	28.0
Victoria Res	VIT	2631	1.43	0.93	0.98	–	25.7
Terra Nova Gld	TGC	243	0.165	0.11	0.13	–	23.5
Dios Expl	DOS	433	0.98	0.75	0.77	–	23.0
Bishop Gold	BSG	3215	0.045	0.035	0.035	–	22.2
Tsodilo Res	TSD	10	0.65	0.51	0.51	–	21.5

TSX-V greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Northern Dyn M	NDM	1975188	13.05	+	1.40
Norwood Res	NRS	2646230	3.97	+	0.88
Adanac Moly	AUA	6737825	2.28	+	0.72
Genco Res	GGC	569149	3.74	+	0.64
Galway Res	GWY	3066632	1.45	+	0.60
Western Prospc	WNP	420192	5.00	+	0.60
Pac Booker Min	BKM	74319	9.12	+	0.52
Roca Mines	ROK	7772405	2.65	+	0.50
Maudore Minls	MAO	556734	1.36	+	0.49
Strathmore Min	STM	1352548	4.83	+	0.49
First Majestic	FR	2820288	5.05	–	0.39
Osisko Explora	OSK	270095	10.00	–	0.35
Victoria Res	VIT	2630779	0.98	–	0.34
Palmarejo S&G	PJO	94700	9.00	–	0.30
Pearl Ex & Pr	PXX	2007278	3.90	–	0.25
Serengeti Res	SIR	549713	1.72	–	0.23
Capella Res	CPS	1844615	1.19	–	0.23
Dios Expl	DOS	433433	0.77	–	0.23
Andina Mnls	ADM	468950	3.34	–	0.21
Sabina Silver	SBB	1776792	2.95	–	0.20

TSX-V most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Crowflight Mnl	CML	25517	0.86	0.58	0.83	+	0.23
Sonora Gold	SGG	21946	0.155	0.09	0.14	+	0.05
Bard Vent	CBS	19793	0.415	0.32	0.35	+	0.02
IBI Corp	IBI	18105	0.065	0.045	0.055	+	0.01
Torch Rvr Res	TCR	17893	0.70	0.28	0.65	+	0.38
Tenajon Res	TJS	17787	0.67	0.375	0.57	+	0.18
Pac Comox	PCM	16539	0.19	0.085	0.17	+	0.085
Simberi Gold	SAU	15506	0.11	0.065	0.08	+	0.01
Molycor Gold	MOR	12049	0.30	0.15	0.235	+	0.085
Mustang Minls	MUM	12036	1.09	0.70	0.96	+	0.23