Canadian Venture Exchange loses ground in first days

The new Canadian Venture Exchange, formed by the merger of the Vancouver and Alberta exchanges, came to life on Nov. 29. The exchange, dubbed CDNX, was launched with just under 2,500 stock listings and began trading at the 2,000-point level. Junior mining, oil-and-gas and technology stocks will be the main drivers of the western exchange. Over the 2-day report period ended Nov. 30, the index lost 13.28 points, or 0.67%, and closed at 1,985.05.

Hunter-Dickinson-led Great Basin Gold finished the week up 40 and closed at $2.30. The company is drilling the low-grade Ivanhoe gold property in Nevada in an attempt to locate a high-grade deposit at depth, similar to the nearby Ken Synder gold mine operated by TSE-listed Franco-Nevada Mining. A recent intercept cut 19 ft. averaging 2.5 oz. gold and 8.4 oz. silver per ton.

Winspear Resources tacked on 8 and closed at $2.38. The company is gearing up to perform another bulk sample of the Snap Lake kimberlite dyke in the Northwest Territories. Winspear holds a 67% interest in the Camsell Lake project, with the remainder held by Toronto-listed Aber Resources.

Gabriel Resources dipped 10 and closed at $1.70. The junior is working the Rosia Montana and other surrounding gold properties in Romania. The land package includes several developed deposits, as well as numerous untested targets. Most of the targets cover areas worked for gold by the ancient Romans.

After a couple of weeks of strong gains, profit-taking pushed Leader Mining International down by the end of the week. The junior lost a dime and closed at $1.44. Leader recently inked an deal allowing Korea Resources to earn a half-interest in the Knife Lake polymetallic project in Saskatchewan in return for spending $5.2 million.

Gulf International Minerals jumped 5 to close at 27. The company holds a 49% interest in several known precious metal deposits in Northern Tajikistan in return for providing a management team and the capital necessary to develop the deposits to Western standards.

Botswana Diamondfields rose 10 and finished the week at 90. No news has been released since the company announced its merger plans with Crew Development and the Norwegian company Mindex. The merger is aimed at establishing an international multi-commodity mining group.

New Blue Ribbon Resources closed up 9 to 40. The company has arranged a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $400,000. The net proceeds will be used to finance exploration of the Pelican Mountain and Little Legend diamond properties in Alberta.

Eaglecrest Exploration lost 5 and closed at 45. Drilling at the company’s San Simon gold project in northeastern Bolivia have yielded encouraging results. Assays from the first two of 10 diamond drill holes indicated erratically distributed gold values. The highest intersection cut 0.72 metre averaging 83.3 grams gold per tonne.

Meanwhile, Cantex Mine Development is drilling the ninth hole of its 10-hole program at the Al Hariqah gold discovery in Yemen. The company reports that visual inspection of the core reveals extensive mineralization. Gold assays are pending. Cantex found a nickel and closed at 21. The junior was founded by Charles Fipke, a geologist credited with the first diamond discoveries at Lac de Gras in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Golden Treasure Exploration rose 15 to close at 58. The junior announced it had entered negotiations with a Toronto-based group for the acquisition of a company that is developing an on-line medical site. The company joins a growing list of junior explorers hoping to make it big in the dot.com world.

After announcing the closing of a $75,000 private placement, Prospector International Resources lost 7 to close the week at 12. The company is exploring gold and base metal properties in the Yukon.

AG Armeno Mines & Minerals finished the week at 13, down 2. The company is involved in a legal battle with Indonesian parties over a percentage of the Batu Hijau copper gold deposit in Indonesia.

After announcing geochemical results from the Muskox platinum-palladium property in the Northwest Territories, Muskox Minerals dropped 4 to close at $1.30. The company plans to drill the intrusion early next year.

Asia Minerals remained flat at 28 after cutting itself loose from its previous affiliation with bankrupt Royal Oak Mines. The company had been one of the first to venture into China. However, difficulties there forced it to return to its North American properties, namely the Copperstone gold project in Arizona.