Steady as she goes on junior board

TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE

Strong metal prices kept the junior mining market on course during the June 21-27 period: the S&P-TSX Venture composite index gave up less than 1% and closed down 15.67 points at 1713.32. However, average daily trading volumes slid to 34.3 million.

New lows surpassed highs by more than four to one, with 22 companies rising to new 52-week highs versus 97 sinking to new annual lows.

Topping the volume chart was Freewest Resources, which traded 9.3 million shares and gained 8.5 to close at 42.5. The company has been advancing its Sungold copper-zinc project in northwestern Ontario. A program of ground geophysics was conducted over areas of massive-to-semi-massive and stringer-zone copper and zinc mineralization. The effort, coupled with mapping, has helped define the mineralized horizon over a strike length of 1 km. Meanwhile, a few other targets have been identified by airborne geophysics.

Mustang Minerals was numero deux on the most-active list, having traded 4.1 million shares and gained 19 to close at $1.27. Investors are excited about drill results from the M2 zone, part of the Maskwa-Mayville nickel/copper/platinum-group-metal project in eastern Manitoba. All four initial holes returned significant intercepts of net-textured, semi-massive-to-massive sulphides. A second fence of four holes was completed on the 1,300-metre-long, east-trending conductor in the Mayville layered mafic-ultramafic intrusive. Mustang consolidated ownership of the Mayville property, acquiring Falconbridge’s 40% interest in the joint venture through the purchase of the major’s controlling stake in Maskwa Nickel Chrome Mines.

Third most active was Burkina Faso explorer Jilbey Gold Exploration, which saw 3.6 million shares cross the floor. However, Jilbey dropped a penny to close the week at 88. The company is the subject of a takeover offer by High River Gold Mines, its partner on the Bissa project. High River is offering three-quarters of a share for each Jilbey share to consolidate ownership in the project. Bissa has a measured and indicated resource of 1.4 million tonnes grading 3.3 grams gold. The company’s board has recommended the proposed merger with High River, which already controls 29% of Jilbey. Reverse-circulation drilling on Bissa has encountered significant mineralized intercepts of up to 4 metres grading 37.5 grams gold.

Northeastern British Columbia coal developer NEMI Northern Energy & Mining traded 3.1 million shares and closed the period at $1.50. NEMI recently lined up more than $50 million to develop its Trend mine, near Tumbler Ridge.

Shares of prospective limestone producer Birch Mountain Resources shed 11%, or 35, to close at $2.75.