Venture board shines in the sun

TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE

Picking up where it left off prior to the August long weekend, the junior market continued its rally to a 16-week high of 1839.29, up 35.56 points over the Aug. 2-8 trading session. Average daily trading volumes remained strong at 42.8 million shares over the week.

Saskatchewan diamond junior Forest Gate Resources grabbed top spot among volume traders with 8.7 million shares traded. The issue gained 5.5 to close at 27.5 per share. The company reported that all nine holes recently drilled on the Dizzy pipe, at its Fort la Corne-area East Side diamond project, intersected kimberlite over widths of up to 117 metres. Core from two of the holes has been sent for microdiamond analysis. Forest Gate’s East Side project borders Shore Gold’s Star diamond property to the south and the Kensington Resources-De Beers joint venture to the west. Compared with the large pipes of its neighbours, the Dizzy pipe has a drill-defined surface area of only about three hectares.

For the second straight week Golden Band Resources grabbed the number two spot amongst most-actives with 6.9 million shares changing hands, gaining 1.5 to close at 27 per share. The company is delineating resources at its Bingo and Waddy Lake projects in the La Ronge gold belt of northern Saskatchewan.

Frank Callaghan-led Golden Cariboo Resources took third place among volume traders, with 6 million shares traded. The 4 shell rallied over 200% to the 11 level on news that the company is purchasing the Bar gold-lead-zinc project, in central B.C., from Eagle Plains Resources.

Imminent producer North American Tungsten traded more than 4.2 million shares, gaining 7 to close the week at $1.40 per share. The resumption of tungsten production from the CanTung mine is slated for this fall. The company is also drilling on its MacTung deposit, located about 160 km north of CanTung.

Birch Mountain Resources traded 3.6 million shares, surging 77, or 25%, to close the session at $3.87 per share. The company has received operating approval for its Muskeg Valley limestone quarry in northeastern Alberta.

The limestone is suitable for use as construction aggregate, cement and quicklime.

Mindoro Resources gained 22 on high volume to close at 65 per share. The company offered an update on its Surigao joint venture in the Philippines where several copper-gold targets have been identified.

Shares of Silvercorp Metals gained 72 on the week to close at $3.67 apiece. The prospective silver miner reported three new bonanza grade silver-lead-zinc veins encountered in underground development at its Ying project in Henan province.

Titanium Corp. shed 47, or 18%, over the trading session to close at $2.18 per share. The company announced a planned $23.9-million financing to fund development of its oil sands project northern Alberta. Following bitumen extraction, the oil sands tailings become concentrated with up to 25-30% heavy minerals.