Vancouver — Halloween came early for investors in Canada’s junior exchange as sellers drove the market to yet another 52-week low during the report period ended Oct. 8. The Standard & Poor’s-TSX Venture composite index, which has lost 30% of its value over the past year, plunged 36.73 points, or 2.7% of its value, to close at 912.73.
Spider Resources was the most actively traded junior explorer, adding 1 to close at 5 on just over 2.6 million shares. Last month the company, along with joint-venture partner KWG Resources, reported that 24 of 52 regional rock samples collected from the Wawa claims in northern Ontario had returned 565 diamonds. The partners also hold the Spider 1 diamond claims in the James Bay lowlands of Ontario and the Alto Paranaiba diamond project in Brazil.
A big percentage loser, Dynacor Mines dropped 13 to close at 45 with just over 1 million shares changing hands. Stock in the Quebec-based company has drifted lower since it announced the results of the first seven holes of an ongoing 3,000-metre drill program over the Tumipampa copper-gold-molybdenum property, 52 km south of Abancay in Peru.
Bucking the negative market tone, Desert Sun Mining moved to a new 52-week high of 61 before settling down, up 1 to 55 on a volume of 887,000 shares. The junior is in the midst of a 2,000-metre drill program on the Jacobina mine gold property in Brazil. Situated in Bahia state, the property hosts a total mineral resource of 37.9 million tonnes grading 3 grams gold per tonne and total proven and probable reserves of 11.5 million tonnes grading 2.6 grams gold. The 13-hole program is designed to test seven new targets.
IMA Exploration lost 2 to close at 45 on 702,000 shares. The company recently extended an exploration program on the Patagonia gold property in Argentina. The move allows the junior to evaluate its properties, as well as complete due diligence on properties under negotiation in the region. So far, two gold-bearing, low-sulphidation epithermal vein systems have been identified.
Starfield Resources bounced off a 52-week low, gaining 2 on the week to close at 38 with 545,000 shares crossing the floor. The company continues to drill-test its Ferguson Lake project in Nunavut, where hole 132 returned up to 14.1 metres grading 1.5% copper, 0.9% nickel, 2.5 grams palladium and 0.5 gram platinum per tonne.
Investors snapped up shares in Anooraq Resources following news that hole 8 on its Rietfontein property in South Africa returned 90.6 metres grading 1.1 grams combined platinum-palladium-gold, plus 0.45% nickel and 0.35% copper. Privately owned African Minerals is running the program as part of an earlier agreement to earn a half-interest stake in the property. Stock in the Hunter-Dickinson-led company added 5 to close at 56 on a volume of 441,000 shares.
New Guinea Gold attracted investor interest, gaining 2 to close at 7 on 553,000 shares. The junior is working the Imwauna prospect on the Normanby Island property in Papua New Guinea. Limited exploration at the Imwauna Vein Swarm has defined a near-surface zone of 200,000 tonnes grading 10.1 grams gold per tonne to a vertical depth of 50 metres.
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