Juniors struggle as gold falls below US$400

The gold price moved below US$400 per oz. and toward the US$390-per-oz. level near the end of the holiday-shortened June 29-July 6 period, closing at US$394.50 in New York. The TSX Venture Exchange composite index closed down slightly, losing 11 points from the previous trading period to close at 1561.90.

Gold was driven down during a volatile trading day after the July 4 holiday, mainly because of inflationary fears, and these concerns, in turn, sparked fears of further rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Silver managed to eke out a 9 gain to close at US$5.97 per oz., while platinum closed lower at US$777 per oz.

The TSX Venture Exchange-listed companies that hit 52-week lows amounted to 54, greatly outnumbering the 12 that reached 52-week highs last period.

Topping the list of volume-leaders yet again was EuroZinc Mining, which traded nearly 11.5 million shares and was up 5 to close at 75. Having completed the purchase of the Neves Corvo copper mine in Portugal, the company now has a full TSX listing.

Speculation surrounding Placer Dome‘s drilling successes at the Cortez joint venture in Nevada continued to drive trading, though some companies have pulled back. Vancouver-based White Knight Resources and NDT Ventures (part of the Northair Group) were second and third on the list of most-actives, with volumes of 3.5 million and 2.6 million shares, respectively. The value of both companies’ shares was down, with White Knight off 25 to close at $1.20 and NDT Ventures down 7 to close at 21. White Knight has a large land position south of the Pediment deposit on the Cortez trend; NDT has the Trend property, which adjoins the Cortez property to the south.

Victoria Resources, on the other hand, added 30 to close at $1.78 on a volume of 1.9 million shares. The company hit a 355-metre mineralized alteration zone containing high gold grades while testing the RJR zone on the Mill Canyon property in the Cortez trend.

Another player in the area is BacTech Mining, which rose 31% to close at 67 after being touted as a bargain by newsletter writer John Kaiser. The company is working toward putting its 55%-owned Tonkin Springs property into production, using bacteria to assist in gold recovery. The project contains a resource of 1.4 million oz. gold, as well as a 2,000-ton-per-day mill, a bioleach circuit, and all the infrastructure needed for a mine. BacTech bought the property, including the mill, for US$1.75 million last year from US Gold.

International Kirkland was up 9, closing at 43 on a relatively high volume. The company recently raised $1.6 million and acquired a Chinese exploration property.

Topping the list of value-gainers was Silver Standard Resources, which added $1.11 to close at $17.40, reflecting an increase in silver prices. QGX was up 40 to close at $3.09, following an explanation as to why the granting of licences at its Mongolian properties has been delayed.

Linear Gold gained 20 to finish at $1.95 after surface sampling at the La Morena property in northern Mexico hit some decent gold and silver grades. Shore Gold was up 17, to $1.42, bouncing back after a sell-off triggered by disappointing diamond counts.