Toronto Venture Exchange slips, June 25-29

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange dropped 2.15% to finish the trading week at 739.96.

Aurania Resources fell 65¢ to $2.15 per share. The company completed a first tranche of a non-brokered, private-placement financing of 2 million units at $2 per unit for $4 million in proceeds. (Each unit consisted of one common share and one-half common share-purchase warrant, which entitles the holder to buy a common share at $3 per share over 18 months.) Aurania’s president, Richard Spencer, subscribed for 11,250 units. The funds will help exploration at its Lost Cities–Cutucu project in southeastern Ecuador. Aurania anticipates a second tranche of the offering for gross proceeds of up to $500,000.

Regulus Resources advanced 25¢ to $2.05 per share. The company is spinning out its Argentina assets into a company called “Aldebaran.” The new company will contain Regulus’ Altar copper-gold project in San Juan province, its Rio Grande copper-gold project in Salta province, and other earlier-stage Argentine assets, including the Aguas Calientes gold-silver project in Jujuy province. Under the transaction, Regulus shareholders will receive one post-consolidated share of Aldebaran for every three Regulus shares held. Aldebaran’s focus will be Altar, where it has entered into an option agreement to acquire up to an 80% working interest from Sibanye-Stillwater through cash payments, shares and expenses. Altar consists of 2,057 million tonnes of measured and indicated resources at 0.3% copper and 0.1 gram gold per tonne (14.5 billion lb. copper and 5.2 million oz. gold), and 557 million tonnes of inferred resources at 0.3% copper and 0.1 gram gold (3.4 billion lb. copper and 1.1 million oz. gold). Mineralization at Altar is open in several directions laterally and to depth. Antofagasta Minerals’ Pelambres copper mine is 25 km south of Antar in Chile. The spin-off will help Regulus focus on its AntaKori copper-gold-silver project in northern Peru.

Assay results from resource step-out drilling at its Ayawilca zinc project in Peru sent shares of Tinka Resources up 10¢ to 55¢. Drill hole 18-129 at West Ayawilca returned 10.4 metres grading 44% zinc from 341 metres’ depth. The high-grade mineralization occurred beneath phyllite metamorphic rock within a repetition of the Pucara limestone formation, which favours mineralization and typically occurs above the phyllite. Most of the previous drill holes were stopped a few metres into the phyllite, which was considered “basement.” Other intercepts included 7.8 metres at 8.1% zinc from 94 metres’ depth; 2.4 metres of 14.9% zinc from 351.3 metres; and 1 metre at 23.7% zinc from 101.1 metres.