TSX Venture eases up, April 3-7

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index gained 8.5 points to an 824.7-point close over the trading week, as spot gold prices gained US$6.10 to US$1,257.3 per oz., and Comex copper prices remained steady at $2.65 per pound.

Shares of White Gold led the value-added category, gaining 50¢ to $2.20. On March 22, the company closed a $10-million private placement in which 5.6 million flow-through shares were offered at $1.80 per share. Agnico Eagle Mines participated in the offering and kept its 19.9% interest in the junior explorer. White Gold owns a portfolio of projects that encompass 30% of the Yukon’s prospective White Gold district, south of the 30 million oz. Klondike placer goldfields surrounding Dawson City.   

Through a series of trades ending on April 5, Osisko Mining acquired ownership of 3.9 million shares of Beaufield Resources at 18¢ per share, thereby raising its stake in the junior explorer to 18.1%. The news drove shares of Beaufield up 9¢ to 32¢ during trading. Beaufield has been exploring its Rouleau gold zone, located 7 km southeast of Osisko’s Windfall gold deposit in southern Quebec.

Highway 50 Gold was a front-runner in the greatest percentage change category, rising 111.5%, or 28¢ per share, to 55¢ per share, after suspending its current drill program at its Monroe lead-zinc project in southeastern B.C., until weather conditions improve. The company was in the midst of drill-testing a stratigraphic horizon known to host the world-class Sullivan lead-zinc deposit, located 40 km north. The depth of the hole has surpassed the expected target depth between 550 and 600 metres, but remains within the hanging-wall stratigraphy at 785 metres deep. In May 2016, Highway 50 entered into an agreement with private company Eagle Putt Ventures to earn a 50% undivided interest in the 12.8 sq. km property by spending $3 million in exploration over the next four years.

Shares of Chesapeake Gold were up 50¢ to $4.05 after providing channel-sampling results from its four precious and base metal green and brownfield projects in Mexico: Nicole and San Javier, 45 and 10 km from its Metates gold-silver-zinc deposit; and Yarely and El Paso, located 15 km and 25 km via highway from its proposed El Paso plant site. The company says the projects could have synergies with the future development of Metates, which has proven and probable reserves of 1.1 billion tonnes of 0.5 gram gold, 14.2 grams silver and 0.2% zinc. Highlights include 60 metres of 71 grams silver per tonne and 0.6% lead from quartz-silver stockworks along a 4 km long trend at its San Javier target. At Nicole, samples returned 7 metres of 3.1 grams gold, 238 grams silver and 0.3% zinc, within a 12 sq. km regional alteration zone.