Tensions drive safe-haven investments

Vancouver — Terrorist retaliation fears against the U.S. over Israel’s shocking assassination of Hamas’s spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, helped fuel bond and bullion prices over the week ended March 23. The TSX Venture Exchange S&P composite index added 27.89 points, or 1.5%, to its value, and closed at 1854.16.

OntZinc closed at 19, up a penny, on a whopping volume of 31.3 million shares. The company has been drilling at the Balmat mine in the vicinity of the Mahler deposit where proven and probable reserves are pegged at 708,580 tons grading 12.8% zinc. The new drilling is aimed at increasing the reserve and resource base. Hole 1479-F cut a 12.5-ft. intersection that averaged 24.5% zinc, whereas hole 1481-F cut 71 ft. of 24.4% zinc.

JNR Resources closed at 53, up 3, with 7.5 million shares changing hands. JNR and partner International Uranium recently tabled high-grade uranium assays at the Moore Lake uranium project in the Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan. Hole 29, based on probe results, returned a grade equivalent to 1.3% U3O8 over 7.5 metres and included a 2.3-metre section averaging 3.6% U3O8. International Uranium closed at $2.90, up 22, with 793,600 shares crossing the proverbial floor.

Spider Resources closed at 18, down 1, with 6.2 million shares exchanged. Spider and partner KWG Resources tabled results for holes 26, 27 and 28, drilled on the McFaulds 3 discovery. Highlights from hole 27 include 0.44% copper and 4.04% zinc, plus 0.07 gram gold and 2.29 grams silver per tonne, over 15.8 metres starting at a down-hole depth of 70.32 metres. Included in the intersection was a 5.09-metre section that averaged 0.53% copper, 6.72% zinc, 0.06 gram gold and 1.47 grams silver. KWG Resources closed at 28, down 2, with 1.2 million shares traded.

Eurozinc Mining closed at 66, up 4, with 6 million shares traded. The company has entered into a bought-deal financing deal consisting of 90 million special warrants for aggregate gross proceeds of $54 million. Proceeds from the placement will be used to acquire the Neves Corvo mine in Portugal.

Cantex Mine Development finished at 10 up a penny with 4.5 million shares traded. The company plans to drill-test its nickel/copper/platinum group metals properties in Yemen and its gold properties in Nevada once it completes a previously announced $3-million financing. The junior holds an exploration licence covering 1,063 sq. km in northwestern Yemen.

American Bonanza Gold Mines closed at 29, up 6, with 3.2 million shares traded. The company tabled more drill results from the surface exploration and resource development program at the company’s wholly owned Copperstone project in Arizona. Hole 2 cut 5.3 metres grading 48.7 grams gold per tonne plus 0.5% copper. The true thickness of this intercept is about 4.5 metres.

Cangold closed at 27, up 4, on a volume of 2.3 million shares. Yamarna Goldfields has acquired ownership and control of 300,000 shares of Cangold. As a result, Yamarna holds 12.96% of the outstanding shares of Cangold, 14.07% of its outstanding Series E share purchase warrants, and 34.71% of its outstanding Series G share purchase warrants.