TSX Venture eases off, Aug. 8-11

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index lost 2.87 points to a 762.81-point close, as spot gold prices rose US$30.4 to US$1,289.31 per oz. and Comex copper prices gained US2¢ to US$2.91 per pound.

Shares of Novo Resources gained 79¢ to $3.61 after the company released results from the first bulk sample at its Purdy’s Reward paleoplacer gold project, south of the city of Karratha in Western Australia. The 700 kg sample, which was split into two subsamples, returned 87.76 grams gold per tonne and 46.14 grams gold. Shares of the company have risen 275% since the company announced on July 12 that it found gold nuggets up to 4 cm long within the top metre of an 11-metre-thick stacked sequence of mineralized conglomerates. Prospecting has outlined the conglomerate package, along with gold mineralization, over an 8 km strike length. Novo has increased its land position to 7,600 sq. km in the region to cover extensions of the prospective conglomerates and similar sequences within the stratigraphy.

Bison Gold Resources gained 28¢ to 55¢ per share after gold producer Klondex Mines agreed to acquire the company for its Manitoba-based gold assets, pending court approval. The consideration would be in Klondex shares, cash or a combination of both, and is based on 59¢ per Bison share, which represents a 131% premium to the last Bison closing price on Aug. 2. Bison controls three main properties in Manitoba’s Rice Lake district, which falls along geological strike of Ontario’s 28 million oz. gold Red Lake district. The properties include 12 historic gold mines, which produced 205,000 oz. gold between 1935 and 1945 at grades between 10.3 grams gold and 12.6 grams gold. Klondex operates the Fire Creek and Midas gold mines in Nevada, and the True North gold mine in Manitoba.

Shares of GT Gold rose 19¢ to $1.42. On July 25, the company announced a high-grade, gold system discovery at its Saddle South prospect, located on its Tatogga property in northwestern B.C.’s golden triangle. Drilling intercepted epithermal-style gold mineralization along a 200-metre geological strike length to 213 metres deep from surface. Intercepts included 10.7 metres of 13.03 grams gold and 8.5 metres of 8.75 grams gold. The 2,500-metre, reverse-circulation drill campaign targeted a 1.5 km long gold-in-soil anomaly. The project’s other anomaly to the north, which trends for 1 km, is untested. A follow-up, 2,500-metre diamond drill program is underway and will test mineralization at Saddle South, along with targets at Saddle North. The mineralization coincides with an induced polarization geophysical anomaly, which helps the company improve targeting confidence for drilling down-dip and along strike of the presently defined zones.