TSX Venture falls during July 11-15 trading week

Over the July 11-15 trading week, the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index fell 21.95 points or 3.7% to end at 584.43. 

Shares of IsoEnergy rose 21¢ to $3.03 during the trading week as the company provided an update on its winter exploration results and announced summer exploration plans for its eastern Athabasca Basin uranium properties. Highlights of drill results from the Larocque East project included 2 metres grading 1% uranium oxide, starting at 335 metres in drillhole LE22-115A and 0.5 metre grading 0.4% uranium oxide, starting at 282 metres in hole LE22-116. Electromagnetic surveying was completed at the company’s Hawk and Ranger projects in the winter as the properties were advanced to a drill-ready state. Initial drill campaigns are planned for both the projects in 2023. In the summer, IsoEnergy plans to conduct 7,000 metres of diamond drilling at its Larocque East, Geiger and Trident projects. While drilling at Larocque will include six holes totalling 2,000 metres, Geiger will comprise eight holes worth 3,000 metres and Trident will include eight holes covering 200 metres.  

Shares of Thunder Gold jumped by 66% to 8¢ during the trading week. The company inked a deal with Himba Metals related to its Okohono copper-silver property in Namibia, under which Himba has secured an option to acquire the company’s 95% interest in the property. Himba has paid a total of US$500,000 to Thunder Gold so far. The deal also requires Himba to pay US$500,000 by Nov. 30 and grant Thunder Gold a 1% net smelter return royalty. The Okohongo deposit covers about 720 metres in strike length. It is 740 metres wide and continues at least 400 metres down-dip. The project is situated within the Kaoko Belt and hosted by metasedimentary strata. It is considered analogous with the stratiform sediment-hosted Central African copperbelt deposits of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its inferred mineral resources are estimated to be 7.7 million tonnes averaging 1.55% copper. 

Shares of Western Alaska rose 21 ¢ to $1.80 as the company announced visual observations from its first 13 drill holes at its Illinois Creek project in western Alaska. The company said that it found “significant” massive sulphide intercepts from the project’s Waterpump creek carbonate replacement deposit. Western reported massive sulphides in hole WPC22-07, with a 12.1-metre (true thickness) intercept starting from 150.4 metres; in hole WPC22-08, which returned a 7.7-metre (true thickness) interval starting at 114.6 metres; and hole WPC22-011, which cut 11.3 metres (true width) starting at 139.1 metres. Western Alaska noted that while the visual results are encouraging, the assay results are pending. The aim of the 2022 drilling is to expand the mineralized footprint and to develop basic ore controls and trends.