Gold bulls bank profits

Vancouver — Canada’s junior exchange lost ground over the report period ended June 11 as investors took profits in junior gold stocks and found renewed interest in diamond explorers. The Standard & Poor’s-TSX Venture composite index plunged 47.2 points, or 3.9%, to close the week at 1,196.52.

American Bonanza Gold Mining was the most actively traded junior explorer, gaining 2 to close at 20 on a heavy 8.8 million shares. The cash-strapped company holds the low-grade Copperstone gold deposit in Arizona and several grassroots projects in Nevada.

Vedron Gold dropped 2 to 24 with 2.6 million shares changing hands. Toronto-listed Placer Dome has been drilling on the junior’s Vedron property, adjacent to the major’s Dome mine in Ontario. At last count, 21 drill holes were completed in the Buffalo Ankerite area, where open-pit mining occurred in the early 1970s. Forty-six holes are slated to be drilled in the current program. Placer can earn a 51% interest in the project by spending $4.5 million over three years.

Giving back a small portion of its recent gains, Silver Standard Resources lost $1.05 to $9.35 on 450,000 shares. Stock in the company has run-up on higher silver prices and news that the junior picked up a 43.4% interest in the Pirquitas project in northern Argentina. The property hosts proven and probable diluted reserves of 30.4 million tonnes grading 128 grams silver, 0.17% tin and 0.81% zinc, based on a cutoff grade of 40 grams silver.

Spider Resources added 2 to close at 9 on 2.4 million shares. The junior’s joint-venture partner, over-the-counter-listed KWG Resources, completed a sampling program on the Wawa diamond property, some 30 km north of Wawa, Ont. Fifteen selected samples returned 196 diamonds, 26 of which are macrodiamonds. A single, 15-kg sample yielded 39 diamonds, including 2 macros.

Another diamond player in the Wawa area, Oasis Diamond Exploration, dropped 2 to close at 9 with 1.8 million shares crossing the floor. The junior is working the Enigma property, where 209 diamonds have been recovered from some 187 kg of material. The St. Bruno, Que.-based company has also inked a deal allowing Geodex Minerals to earn a 75% interest in 50 claims situated southeast of Ashton Mining of Canada’s land package in the Otish Mountains region of Quebec. The price tag for its interest is $5,000 cash and 450,000 shares over two years. Geodex ended at a 52-week high of 24, up 5 on light volume.

Diagem International Resource lost 1 to close at 31 on 2.2 million shares. The company holds a 39.4% equity interest in KWG Resources and has been busy advancing its own diamond projects in Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The company recently bought a used X-Ray sorting plant to go along with the recent purchase of a 60-hectare site.

Vannessa Ventures plunged 37 to end at $1.83 on just under 300,000 shares. The president of Costa Rica announced his country will be banning all open-pit mining operations. The Executive Decree refers to new exploration and exploitation projects and does not reflect Vannessa’s advanced Crucitas gold property. The project hosts an oxide resource comprising 723,815 oz. gold, with total resources of 1.9 million oz.