Canadian Venture Exchange grabs bull by horns

The Canadian Venture Exchange soared 134.98 points, or 5.4%, to close the week ended Jan. 11 at 2,479.98.

Birch Mountain Resources was the leader, posting a gain of 30 and closing at $2.95. The Calgary-based company’s share price has doubled over the past two weeks based on exploration at the Prairie gold property in the Athabasca region of northern Alberta. However, the search for commercial deposits of “prairie gold” in this region has been both complex and controversial, owing to the inability of conventional assaying techniques to duplicate previous results. Last fall, after four bulk samples from the property returned only negligible values of gold and platinum group metals, Birch Mountain reported that Strathcona Mineral Services had completed independent sampling on the property and would be preparing a report. Company officials have declined to say when the report will be released to the public, saying only that it is “in progress.”

Snowfield Resources increased its value by 400%, adding 12 and closing at 15. The company, which said it was unaware of any material changes that would account for the increase, is considering business opportunities other than mining but has yet to enter into any agreements.

Peruvian Gold closed at 64, up 6. The company, together with Toronto-listed partner Imperial Metals, is in the midst of a 3,500-metre program of underground drilling at the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead project in northern British Columbia. Peruvian can earn a 60% stake in the property by spending $5 million on exploration.

Naneco Minerals added 2 to its value and closed at 31 after announcing a $875,000 private placement and plans to start up it 75%-owned Jiawula silver-zinc-lead deposit in Inner Mongolia, China.

Major General Resources closed at 15, up 3. The junior has ongoing base metal projects in Atlantic Canada and Ontario, a gold project in Quebec and a diamond project in the Arctic.

After a string of good news, disappointing drill results from the Fireweed base metal property, near Smithers, B.C., caused Mansfield Minerals to drop 2. The junior ended the week at $1.20. Mansfield’s partner on the project, Cedar Capital, closed flat at 60. Mansfield has settled a legal dispute regarding the Cerro Samenta copper property in Argentina and was informed that Teck will drill the property in the first quarter. Also, the company was granted title to the Rio Grande copper-gold property in the same country.

Cantex Mine Development continued to lose ground, dropping 3 to close at 56. Investors are growing impatient because assay results from the Al Hariqah gold prospect in Yemen have yet to be announced.