TSX Venture Exchange

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index managed a 20.36-point gain in the period to end at 1,211.35 after two days of gains and two days of losses. The climb came despite low volumes and averaged 59 million shares traded daily. The drop in volume was partially caused by the American July 4 holiday, with only 37 million shares trading that day.

For a second week Barkerville Gold Mines stood out in terms of volume with almost 24 million shares traded. A 10.6-million-oz.-gold resource estimate on the company’s Cow Mountain project sparked interest the week before, with a “geological potential” estimate stating there could be as much as 90 million oz. gold in the area. Doubt about the resource estimate, however, meant the increased activity saw the company’s share price fall 24¢ to 97¢, after climbing from 81¢ to as high as $1.67 following the resource’s release.

Rare-earth explorer Matamec Explorations was a distant second in volume with 3.4 million shares traded. The company released no news in the period, but announced on June 26 that Toyota Tsusho had agreed to a July 11 extension of the deadline for finalizing a joint-venture agreement on the company’s Kipawa heavy rare-earth deposit. In March the companies agreed that Toyota would decide if it would help pay for a feasibility study by June 27. At the time Toyota paid $1.5 million as part of a binding memorandum of understanding, and Matamec has since come out with a scoping study on the project. Matamec’s share price climbed to as high as 39¢ in the period before closing up 9¢ at 30¢.

Gold Reserve had the highest value gains of the period, ending up 36¢ at $3.76 after closing as high as $4.10 early in the week. The company saw 10,580 shares traded in the first two days when it climbed 79¢, and then 3,090 shares traded as it fell 43¢ over two days. Gold Reserve did not release news during the week, but on June 28 shareholders approved a debt restructuring. The company is pursuing a $2.1-billion arbitration claim against the Venezuela government for expropriating its Brisas gold project, and has optioned into a Mexican copper-gold project from Soltoro.

Graphite-focused Flinders Resources had the second-highest value gains, climbing 27¢ to close at $1.60. The company released no news in the period, but announced new drill results from its Kringel project in Sweden on the Monday following. The five holes released included intercepts of 10 metres grading 10.8% graphite, 19 metres grading 8% graphite and 11 metres grading 8.2% graphite. On news of the results the company’s share price climbed 8¢ to $1.68.

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