Venture slips in shortened Sept. 6-9 period

Vancouver – The oscillations on the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index continued in the shortened September 6 to 9 period, this time dropping 25.26 points to end at 1,785.10 points. Volume edged up again, averaging 79.2 million shares traded daily.

Inca Pacific Resources was one of the biggest movers of the week, jumping 25¢ or 76% to 58¢ on 13.5 million shares traded to become the most-traded and biggest percentage gainer of the period. The activity came after Peru-based Minera Milpo offered $35-million to buy out Inca to end an ownership dispute of the Magistral copper-molybdenum project in Peru. Inca had run into disagreements with the Peruvian government about work expenditures in 2009, leading the government to seizing the property and auction it off to Minera Milpo. Inca’s support of the buyout means it won’t have to resort to litigation.

Hellix Ventures was up significantly, jumping 48¢ to end at $1.22, while hitting a high of $1.50 during the period. Having released no news, the company was forced to issue a statement saying it was unaware of any material change that might cause the activity. The last news from Hellix was in July when it announced gold and silver sample results from its Margarita project in Arizona, with values as high as 27.2 grams gold per tonne and 246 grams silver per tonne. The company’s stock price was trading around 47¢ in early July.

Chesapeake Gold was on a tear for a second week, again having the highest value climb of the period with a $1.91 rise to $15.96. Once again the company released no news, and in fact has not released any news since a financial update in early May. But the company could be seen as a potential takeover target with its advanced 17.2 million oz. gold and 467 million oz. silver Metates project in Mexico’s Durango State. The project currently has a US$3.2-billion estimated capex and a US$1.8-billion after-tax net present value using a 5% discount and US$900 per oz. gold.

Trelawney Mining and Exploration was the second highest value gainer of the period, up 60¢ to $4.94 on 2.4 million shares traded. The company announced it had completed the partial acquisition of claim 266, part of the Chester 3 property, and also announced a property sale to Mag Copper for shares. The company also reminded Augen Gold shareholders to tender their shares before the Sept. 12 deadline to ensure the takeover deal goes through, having increased the bid price in late August. The looming deadline also meant Augen shares were heavily traded, with 6.7 million shares traded as the company’s share price went up 6¢to 42¢.

Continuing with a corporate restructuring, Celeste Copper appointed Farhad Abasov to its board of directors and named him chairman. Abasov is currently president and CEO of Allana Potash, and executive chairman of Rodinia Lithium. In late July Celeste appointed Norman Brewster as its president and CEO, who was recently head of Cadillac Ventures. The company is working to complete the acquisition of England-focused Cornish Minerals, and is also exploring its copper properties in Chile. In the period Celeste’s share price went up 7¢ or 58% to 19¢.