Junior exchange charges ahead

Vancouver — The S&P/TSX Venture Index jumped 43.19 points, or 3.7%, to close the week ended May 21 at 1202.41 points.

New Bullet Group was the week’s volume leader, with 2.7 million shares crossing the floor. The company recently closed a placement of 750,000 units priced at 20 per unit for gross proceeds of $150,000. New Bullet has an option to acquire a half-interest in a 1.3-sq.-km gold-silver property north of Guadalajara, Mexico. Previous work by Spanish miners, Toronto-listed Noranda and Stroud Resources indicates a mineralized zone with a 900-metre strike length, widths ranging to more than 30 metres, and depth in excess of 200 metres. New Bullet Group lost a penny and closed the period at 31.

American Bonanza Gold Mining lost 1 and closed at 11 on 1.5 million shares. The stock has been trading actively since Toronto-listed Royal Gold cancelled a US$1.7-million deal to get a 3% net smelter return royalty from the company’s wholly owned Copperstone gold project in Arizona.

Allican Resources tacked on 5 and closed at 55 on a volume of 1.4 million shares. The company is in preliminary discussions with the Quebec government in connection with its ferrochrome plant project near Thetford Mines.

Donner Minerals closed up 6 to 49 on 1.2 million shares. The company holds a 75% interest in SVB Nickel, which holds the South Voisey’s Bay project, 90 km south of Inco’s deposits. The project comprises 3,700 contiguous claims equivalent to about 1,000 sq. km.

Odyssey Resources closed up 1 to 40 on 1.2 million shares. The junior explorer recently purchased the Korgan gold property from the Mining Bureau of the Turkish government. The Korgan property covers 27 sq. km in two exploration licences and is 5 km south of Odyssey’s recently acquired Atintepe gold property. Korgan hosts a cluster of anomalous gold stream-sediment samples that cover an area 5 km long and 3 km. wide.

Spartan Resources lost 2 and closed the week at 38 with 1.1 million shares traded. The junior recently completed a non- brokered private placement financing worth $300,000. Proceeds will be used to explore the company’s Royal Vault nickel and platinum-group- element project in New Brunswick and diamond properties in Ontario and Quebec.

Freewest Resources found a nickel and closed at 36 on 1 million shares. Investors are awaiting further drill results from the Clarence Stream gold project in New Brunswick. Drilling is ongoing at the Murphy zone in an effort to test the mineralized structure along strike and at depth.

National Gold closed up 2 to 47 with 932,000 shares traded. The junior recently completed three previously announced private placements: 2 million units priced at 30 per unit for gross proceeds of $600,000, 200,000 additional units at the same price for proceeds of $60,000, and 800,000 units, again at 30 each for proceeds of $240,000. The money is to be used for working capital. National Gold holds a half-stake in the Salamandra Gold property, which hosts the Mulatos gold resource in Mexico’s Sonora state.

Seabridge Resources jumped 36 to close at $1.89 on 921,000 shares on no material news.