Venture edges up in July 16-20 period

VANCOUVER — The S&P TSX Venture Composite Index climbed 9.23 points in the July 16-20 period to end at 1,196.19 points after three days of gains outweighed two days of losses. Volume would have increased noticeably were it not for a scant 44.4 million shares traded on the final day of the period, bringing the overall daily trading average to 72 million shares.

Canamex Resources was the breakout star of the period after hitting 118.1 metres grading 4.08 grams gold per tonne from 88 metres downhole at its Bruner project in Nevada. The company reported that the hole, number B-1201, which included a 1.6-metre intercept grading 132.5 grams gold from 139 metres downhole, is believed to be the best ever drilled at the project. On news of the hit the company’s share price climbed 29¢ to end at 39¢ for the period to be the top percentage gainer, while the 46.4 million Canamex shares traded made it the most traded company as well.

Reservoir Minerals also saw a steep percentage gain after announcing single impressive intercept, climbing 39¢ to $1.04 with 2.9 million shares traded on hole 1210 from its Timok project in Serbia. The vertical hole returned 266 metres grading 1.07% copper and 0.28 gram gold from 598 metres downhole and included a 9-metre intercept grading 5.33% copper and 0.6 gram gold, and 6 metres averaging 4.37% copper and 0.85 gram gold. Results from 1,183 metres to 1,947 metres of the hole have yet to be released. Freeport McMoran Exploration has an earn-in agreement for up to 75% of the project.

Goldquest Mining was second behind Canamex in volume with 19.4 million shares traded after the company announced results from a second hole at its Romero discovery in the Dominican Republic. Hole LTP92, a 25-metre step-out and the first follow-up from discovery hole LTP90, returned 159 metres grading 4.45 grams gold and 0.95% copper from 213 metres depth as well as two shallower intercepts. The company’s share price, which had already climbed from around 50¢ at the end of June to 98¢ in anticipation of follow-up results, popped a further 22¢ to reach $1.20 on the day the results were released before slipping back down to 99¢ at the end of the period for an 11¢ gain.

Based close to Goldquest in the Dominican, Unigold also released some captivating results including 77 metres grading 3.81 grams gold in a 100-metre step-out hole. The news had Unigold sitting at a 14¢ gain at 44¢ at one point before ending up 4¢ at 34¢ with 8 million shares traded. The company continues to drill 100-metre step-outs at its Candelones project.

In Yukon, Atac Resources got some traction after reporting more high-grade hits from its Rackla gold project. Highlights included hole 12-103 that hit 46 metres grading 11.24 grams gold and hole 12-098 that returned 40.3 metres grading 10.10 grams gold, both in the Conrad zone; while in the Isis East zone step-out hole 12-097 hit 24.4 metres carrying 5.58 grams gold and hole 12-101 cut 21.6 metres averaging 5.11 grams gold. On the day of the results Atac’s share price climbed 30¢ before ending the period up 22¢ at $2.65 with 1.4 million shares traded.