Junior exchange buoyed by bullion

Vancouver — Canada’s junior exchange followed gold’s lead over the week ended Aug. 19. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index gained 24.78 points, or 2% of value, and closed at 1,249.73.

Bishop Resources added 12 to its value and closed at 27 with 5.5 million shares traded. The junior recently launched its 2003 exploration program on the Al and Lawyers gold properties in the Toodoggone district of north-central British Columbia.

Spider Resources remained steady at 10 with 1.9 million shares traded. The junior and its joint-venture partner, KWG Resources, are exploring the Spider 3 base metal prospect in the James Bay Lowlands of northern Ontario. KWG closed at 10 down a penny on 756,000 shares.

The latest drill results from the Pebble copper-gold property in Alaska sent shares of Northern Dynasty Mines higher. The Hunter-Dickinson-led junior jumped $1.03 and closed at $2.85. The results include up to 0.86 gram gold and 0.7% copper over 86.7 metres.

Sennen Resources closed at 35 up 3 on 1.8 million shares. The company recently announced a private placement of US$3.2 million to cover the costs of exploration on its newly acquired Five Star and Makapa gold projects in northwestern Guyana.

Kalahari Resources added 7 and closed at 26 with just over 1.7 million shares traded. The junior recently tabled an independent study on the Lamaque gold property in the Val d’Or area of Quebec.

Millstream Mines closed the week up 1 to 12 on a volume of 1.5 million shares. The company holds the Airport property, just outside the eastern rim of the Sudbury basin. Crowflight Minerals is earning a half-stake in the project by spending $325,000 on an initial exploration program, with Millstream as operator. Included in the program is a tuned-gradient induced-polarization resisitivity geophysical survey. Crowflight closed at 51, up 6 on a volume of 611,000 shares.

Samex Mining closed at 58, up 11 with 1.2 million shares traded. The company recently arranged a private placement of worth $337,000. Proceeds are earmarked for exploration of precious metal properties in Bolivia and Chile.

Lateegra Resources tacked on 2 to closed at 16 with 1.2 million shares crossing the floor. The company recently completed its drill program at the Bonanza property in Red Lake, Ont. Assays from the first four holes returned 10 intersections of anomalous values, with the best averaging 0.41 gram gold per tonne over 1 metre.

Marum Resources closed at 11, up 2 on just over 1 million shares traded. Marum and Resource Finance & Investment have agreed to form a 50-50 joint venture to explore for diamonds in western Kentucky.

ECU Silver Mining closed at 9, up a penny with 3.9 million shares traded. The stock resumed trading Aug. 8 after a cease-trading order was lifted. ECU’s ownership (through a subsidiary) of the mining properties in the Velardena area of Mexico has been challenged by the original vendors. The dispute has resulted in a production shortfall: only 2,606 tonnes were milled between March 24 and May 4 instead of the 5,000 tonnes planned. The average grades for that period were 6.15 grams gold and 299 grams silver, with recoveries of 75% for gold and 38% for silver.