TSX Venture falls with oil futures, Nov. 30-Dec. 4

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index followed energy markets downward, losing 4.88 points en route to a 517.13-point close. Statistics Canada reported that the unemployment rate rose 0.1% to 7.1% in November, while the Canadian merchandise trade deficit widened from $2.3 billion in September to $2.8 billion in October.

Crude oil futures dropped to a seven-year low due to oversupply concerns, with January contracts for West Texas Intermediate tumbling 4%, or US$1.68, en route to a US$39.97-per-barrel close. Gold companies were on the rise after a spike in prices that saw February  bullion contracts gain 2.7%, or US$28.30, before finishing at US$1,084.50 per oz. Meanwhile, March contracts for copper traded relatively flat at US$2.07 per lb.

Explorer Ashburton Ventures led the volume-traded category after announcing results from a maiden drill program at its Buckingham graphite project in Quebec, 1.7 km north of the past-producing Walker graphite mine. The company saw over 14 million shares change hands, as it rose 1¢ en route to a 2¢-per-share close.

On Dec. 1 Ashburton released its inaugural hole from Buckingham, which reportedly intersected “disseminated flake graphite mineralization” from 3 metres to 14 metres, and “further graphite mineralization” from 70 metres to 100 metres. The hole ended at 209 metres deep in a unit of pegmatite with scattered, centimetre-scale graphitic veins for another 5 metres containing “vein-type” mineralization.

Millstream Mines was on the rise after announcing a first-pass drill program at its recently acquired Tamarack gold property in the Tobacco Root Mountains of Madison County, Mont. The company gained 122%, or 6¢, on 739,200 shares traded, before finishing at 12¢ per share.

The site hosts a past-producing mine and is permitted to operate under Montana’s Small Mines Exclusion Act. On Dec. 3 Millstream announced a two-stage drill program to test geophysical anomalies found via ground magnetometer surveys. The company has released limited information on historic drilling at Tamarack, highlighted by 39 metres grading 8.4 grams gold per tonne from 15.2 metres deep in hole TR-2.

Ascot Resources is boosting a proposed non-brokered private placement to 10 million units priced at $1 per unit. Each unit will consist of one share and one purchase warrant, exercisable at $1.05 for 18 months. The company saw its stock drop 14¢ after the news, en route to a 93¢-per-share close. In November Ascot extended an option agreement on its flagship Premier gold project near the two of Stewart, B.C. The $6.9 million is due in mid-June 2017.