Bullion drives junior exchange

Vancouver — Canada’s junior exchange moved higher as bullion flirted with the US$400-per-oz. mark over the week ended Nov. 18. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index tacked on 31.90 points, or 1.99% of value, to close at 1,634.38.

American Bonanza Gold Mining closed at 43, up 5 on 13.8 million shares. The stock rose following the initial results from an ongoing 9,000-ft. program of underground drilling on the D zone at the Copperstone gold project in Arizona. The junior drilled the first two holes of the latest program into the western margin of the D zone, with hole 1 failing to cut any significant values and hole 2 yielding a high value of 0.31 oz. gold per ton over 4.5 ft. The third hole returned 40 ft. grading 1.2 oz. gold. Included in this interval was a higher-grade section of 2.3 oz. gold over 18 ft.

Makng a big percentage move, ECU Silver added 11 to close at 24 with almost 8.5 million shares traded. At last report, the original vendors of the Velardena properties in Mexico had challenged ECU’s ownership. The dispute resulted in a production shortfall: only 2,606 tonnes were milled between March 24 and May 4 instead of the 5,000 tonnes planned.

Freewest Resources closed at 38, up 7 with just over 7 million shares traded. The company recently released more results from its Larose property, 120 km west of Thunder Bay in the Shebandowan greenstone belt of northwestern Ontario. Recent prospecting and backhoe stripping by Freewest have increased the strike length of the Main zone to 1,500 metres, with the discovery of the Northwest View occurrence. A total of 17 selected grab samples, collected from this new prospect, yielded an average assay of 23.85 grams gold per tonne; assays ranged from 0.02 to 62.93 grams gold.

Olympus Pacific Minerals finished the week flat at 74 with 4.6 million shares traded. The company holds the 70-sq.-km Phuoc Son gold project in Vietnam, which hosts 24 known areas of outcropping gold mineralization. The most advanced targets are the Dak Sa Underground and the Khe Rin and Khe Do gold skarn prospects.

Southern Star Resources closed at 45, up 26 with 4.4 million shares crossing the floor. The junior has engaged Canaccord Capital for an offering of up to 4 million flow-through shares exercisable before closing at a price of 50 per share for gross proceeds of up to $2 million. The proceeds will be used to explore the company’s Gold Eagle Mine property in the Red Lake gold camp of Ontario. Southern Star has an option to earn a half-stake in the past-producing property.

Verena Minerals closed the week at 32, up 8 with 4.3 million shares traded. The company holds more than 100 sq. km of mineral and gemstone properties in the Brazilian states of Goias, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Norte, Tapajos and Tocantins.

Golden Goliath Resources finished the week at 67, up 29 on a volume of 4.2 million shares. The company is exploring its Las Bolas property in northwestern Mexico. Seventy chip samples from the old Gambusino mine averaged 267.52 grams silver per tonne and 0.22 gram gold per tonne. At the El Corazon workings, 15 chip samples averaged 25 grams silver and 1.25 grams gold, whereas 12 chip samples from the Guadalupana tunnel averaged 16.23 grams silver and 1.43 grams gold. The company is gearing up for a drill program to test these prospects.