MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS – WESTERN MARKETS — Hyperion, New Indigo bright spots on dull market

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index dropped 5.01 points, or 1.2%, to finish the week ended Feb. 9 at 414.21. The mining index slipped below the 300 mark, losing 8.25 points, or 2.7%, to close at 295.02. Meanwhile, the combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange lost 26.22 points, or 1.4%, and closed at 1,891.45.

Argentina Gold tumbled 75 cents and closed at $4.50, shortly after the expiration of Toronto-listed Barrick Gold’s $5 cash takeover bid for all outstanding shares of AG. The junior has a 60% stake in the Veladero project in Argentina, with Barrick holding the remainder.

Hyperion Resources rocketed 33 cents and finish the week at 73 cents. The company recently drilled eight holes on its Holguin property in eastern Cuba, following up an intercept that cut 5.1 metres grading 6.51% copper on the Monte Rojo target. Assays are pending.

Alberta-listed New Indigo Resources closed at 54 cents, up 19 cents from the previous week. The amalgamation of New Indigo and Toronto-listed Lytton Minerals was given the green light, allowing for the consolidation of interests in diamond exploration properties covering 1.9 million ha in the Northwest Territories and Alberta.

Excellon Resources jumped 14 cents and closed at 70 cents. The company released results from its 5-hole, 800-metre drill program on the Platosa property in central Mexico. Hole 5 averaged 7.4 metres of 35.2% zinc, 14.4% lead and 1,132 grams silver. Core recovery averaged 53%.

Balaclava Mines plummeted 28 cents and closed at 26 cents, following the release of drill results from the El Corazon project in Equador; Cypress Minerals tacked on 3 cents and closed at 15 cents after staking 115 claims northwest of Nuinsco Resources’ nickel discovery in Quebec; and Energold Mining rose 12 cents to close at 79 cents, having added an extra 200 metres to its drill program at the Longyear gold property in the Dominican Republic.

Polymet Mining was up another 44 cents to settle at $2.40. The junior is advancing the NorthMet polymetallic project in northern Minnesota. Metallurgical test work is under way, with both pressure oxidation and bioleaching options being investigated.

Ontex Resources was up 7 cents at $1.13 after reporting details of a compilation of past drilling on the Cherbourg claims northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., near the company’s Brookbank gold project.

Alberta-listed Savanna Resources rose from the dead to 2 cents after announcing it had received a proposal for a joint venture on its Turner-Albright property in Oregon. The project has a massive sulphide deposit partially outlined by 60,000 ft. of drilling. Reserves stand at 2.1 million tons grading 0.116 oz. gold, 0.51 oz. silver, 1.42% copper, 3.55% zinc and 0.066% cobalt.