Market moves with gold

Vancouver — Canada’s junior exchange made a big comeback over the week ended Feb. 10, as gold stocks started making positive gains. The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange composite index closed at 1866.18, up 77.46 points, or 4.33%.

Spider Resources and joint-venture partner KWG Resources have tabled results from the first drill hole of their winter drilling program on the McFaulds #3 base metal target in Ontario’s James Bay Lowlands. Hole McF-20 cut 5.87 metres averaging 2.8% copper, 0.02% zinc, 0.5 gram gold and 15.5 grams silver per tonne, starting 68.4 metres down-hole. This was followed by a 4.2-metre section that averaged 0.26% copper, 11.8% zinc, and 1.57 grams silver, starting 91.2 metres down-hole. Spider closed the week at 21, up 4 with a whopping 25.5 million shares traded. KWG ended the session at 37, up 7 with 3.2 million shares crossing the floor.

Diadem Resources closed at 16, up 7 with 7.5 million shares traded. The company recently inked a deal with Darnley Bay Resources for a half interest in a large diamond exploration area near Paulatuk in the Northwest Territories. Diadem agreed to spend $5 million on diamond exploration over the next two years for its half interest, with the right to gain a 75% interest by financing a feasibility study for a diamond mine. Darnley Bay closed up 3 at 19.

Beartooth Platinum jumped 11 and closed at 33 with 5.2 million shares traded. The company’s core asset is 5.6 sq. km in Montana’s Stillwater complex. Within this land package are several advanced-stage exploration targets and numerous untested PGM zones.

ECU Silver Mining closed at 32, up 4 with 4.8 million shares traded. The company recently privately placed $999,000, with the funds earmarked for exploration drilling at the Santa Juana mine, as well as for general production costs in Mexico.

Stornoway Diamond closed at $2.62, up 32 with 4.1 million shares traded. The diamond explorer has acquired more than 2.3 million additional hectares of federal prospecting permits and claims in eastern Nunavut, and has entered into an agreement with BHP Billiton to explore new landholdings on the Melville Peninsula.

Intrepid Minerals finished at 68, down 2 with 3.5 million shares changing hands. The company recently posted assay results from its sampling program on its San Cristobal property in eastern El Salvador. The first round of drilling is set to begin and will target the historical Gigante and Hormiguero districts which are low-sulphidation, epithermal gold- and silver-bearing vein systems. Trench samples yielded assays up to 3.85 grams gold and 341.3 grams silver over widths of 3.2 metres and 3.9 metres, respectively.

Dumont Nickel finished the week at 53 up 6 with 3.5 million shares traded. The company is one of the largest land-holders in the Attawapiskat diamond area in the James Bay Lowlands. The company also is operator of the Utah joint venture which now comprises 48 sq. km of mineral properties across the historic Clifton-Gold Hill gold-silver-copper mining district.