Bullion pushes venture exchange higher

Vancouver — Canada’s junior exchange was buoyed by the strength of bullion during the week ended Sept. 23. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index tacked on 21.1 points, or 1.54% of value, to close at 1,389.62.

Cantex Mine Development finished the week up 7 at 10 with 7.3 million shares traded. At last report, the Chuck Fipke-led company had acquired a 100% interest in all of Sovereign Gold‘s nine claim groups in Nevada in return for $125,000 in cash and 3 million shares. The properties host gold, arsenic and antimony heavy-mineral anomalies.

ECU Silver Mining closed at 11, up 4 with 5.9 million shares traded. The stock resumed trading Aug. 8 after a cease-trading order was lifted. ECU’s ownership (through a subsidiary) of the mining properties in the Velardena area of Mexico has been challenged by the original vendors. The dispute resulted in a production shortfall: only 2,606 tonnes were milled between March 24 and May 4 instead of the 5,000 tonnes planned. The average grades for that period were 6.15 grams gold and 299 grams silver, with recoveries of 75% for gold and 38% for silver.

American Bonanza Gold Mines shot up 3 to close at 36 on a volume of 4.2 million shares. The company intends to mobilize a second underground core drilling rig, as well as a surface rig, to its Copperstone gold project in Arizona. Work is also slated to resume on the junior’s Gold Bar property, in the Battle Mountain-Eureka mineral belt of Nevada.

Meanwhile, Entree Gold finished the week at $1.05, up 25, with just over 4 million shares changing hands. A financing consisting of up to 2.3 million units priced at 85 apiece is to generate $2 million, which Entree will use to buy the Shivee Tolgoi licenses, next to the Mongolia property of Toronto-listed Ivanhoe Mines.

Partners Spider Resources and KWG Resources continued to trade heavily ahead of further drill results from the McFauld’s Lake massive sulphide zone in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario. The company recently found a copper-enriched sulphide zone in a satellite showing. Shares in KWG lost a penny and closed at 11 on a volume of 1.1 million, while Spider ended the week flat at 13 with 3.7 million shares traded.

Investors sold off shares in Shear Minerals, following the release of micro diamond results from the first 11 kimberlites discovered on the Churchill project in Nunavut. Shear and partners Stornoway Ventures and BHP Billiton reported eight stones from a 157.6-kg sample. Micro results for a further five kimberlite pipes discovered in the second phase of drilling are expected before year-end. Shear ended the week at 69, down 25 on 3.3 million shares, while Stornoway closed at $1.60, down 10 on 1.69 million.

OntZinc closed at 25, up a nickel with 3.1 million shares traded. In August, the company announced that St. Lawrence Zinc, a corporation related to OntZinc, had received the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to buy the Balmat mine from ZCA Mines for US$20 million. The purchase price will be payable out of net cash flow from operations. The junior is in the midst of a $1.1-million financing consisting of 10 million units priced at 11 each. A unit holds one share and one warrant, which is exercisable at 14 two years.