TSX Venture Exchange – Aug. 11-17

The market inconsistency continued over the week of Aug. 11-17, pushing the S&P/TSX Venture composite index up one day and down the next. The junior board finished the week down 25.39 points at 1,159.82. Daily trading volumes remained strong, averaging 86.9 million shares.

And although the board closed down, more Venture-listed companies reached new 52-week share price highs than fell to new lows. During the week 47 juniors saw new highs while only 28 dropped to new lows.

Investors looking to cash in on the anticipated flood of electric cars to the market jumped on lithium over the week, knowing that electric car batteries rely on the very light metal. Worldwide annual lithium carbonate production totals only about 120,000 tonnes but building several million electric cars would increase demand by 10-15%.

Hoping to ride the rising tide, investors pushed two small lithium explorers to the top of the trading volume chart. First Lithium Resources, which has two early-stage exploration projects in the Prairies, moved 29 million shares to double its share price to 25¢. Canada Lithium, which is exploring a past-producing lithium property in Quebec, traded 17 million shares and added 8¢ to reach 69¢.

Investors continued to reward East Asia Minerals for its solid drill results out of the Miwah gold project in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, released the previous week. Intercepts such as 4.31 grams gold per tonne over 51 metres within a broader interval grading 2.25 grams gold over 143 metres propelled the company’s share price up 65¢ or 30% to $2.85.

Investors were also impressed with drill results from Aura Silver Resources’ Higo Blanco project in Oaxaca, Mexico, boosting the company’s shares 325% to 42.5¢. The first three holes into a silicified limestone-volcanic complex all hit high-grade silver, including 12 metres of 519 grams silver per tonne.

Alhambra Resources shares rose on news that Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that had invalidated Alhambra’s purchase of Saga Creek Gold. Saga Creek is the wholly owned subsidiary through which Alhambra conducts business in Kazakhstan, including small-scale mining at its oxide heap-leach gold mine.

The Kinbauri Gold drama may be closer to a conclusion. In May, main board-listed Orvana Minerals offered 55¢ per share to take over the junior, a deal it rejected. Kinbauri then signed a deal to sell a 45% interest in its Spanish gold properties to Glen Eagle Resources for US$32 million, but that deal slowly died as Glen Eagle failed several times to secure funding. Kinbauri then agreed to merge with ATW Gold;that also fell through. In the meantime, Orvana increased and extended its offer; now the senior is giving up on a full takeover and instead using the shares tendered to its bid to take a 64% stake in the junior. When the saga began in May, Kinbauri shares were trading near 40¢; for the last month, its share price has hovered near 75¢.

TSX-V most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Mountain Captl	MCI	29091	0.25	0.12	0.25	+ 0.13
Canada Lithium	CLQ	17014	0.89	0.50	0.69	+ 0.08
Troymet Expl	TYE	16622	0.09	0.05	0.06	-0.02
Silver Fields	SF	15890	0.04	0.03	0.03	+ 0.01
Plato Gold	PGC	15663	0.08	0.04	0.05	+ 0.01
East Asia Mnls	EAS	14663	3.05	2.16	2.85	+ 0.65
Medoro Res	MRS	14515	0.84	0.60	0.78	+ 0.15
Aura Silver Rs	AUU	13096	0.60	0.09	0.43	+ 0.32
Noront Res	NOT	11793	2.50	1.97	2.10	-0.14
Gold Hawk Res	CGK	10636	0.05	0.03	0.04	-0.01

TSX-V greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Aura Silver Rs	AUU	13096	0.60	0.09	0.43	+290.9
Alhambra Res	ALH	975	0.33	0.09	0.30	+233.3
Orestone Mng	ORS	57	0.09	0.09	0.09	+125.0
Mountain Captl	MCI	29091	0.25	0.12	0.25	+108.3
Acrex Vent	AKV	5981	0.05	0.03	0.04	+100.0
Intl Northair	INM	1974	0.17	0.06	0.10	+100.0
Moss Lake Gld	MOK	49	0.14	0.11	0.14	+ 75.0
Gold Canyon	GCU	1297	0.16	0.09	0.14	+ 75.0
MBMI Res	MBR	1675	0.30	0.18	0.28	+ 75.0
Conway Res	CWY	92	0.05	0.04	0.05	+ 66.6
Mazarin	MAZH	138	0.06	0.04	0.04	-50.0
Firesteel Res	FTR	16	0.05	0.04	0.05	-44.4
Stratabd Mnr	SB	99	0.10	0.05	0.05	-37.5
Thunder Sword	THU	19	0.05	0.05	0.05	-37.5
Metals Ck Res	MEK	703	0.24	0.15	0.17	-34.6
Kernow Res	KRD	270	0.04	0.04	0.04	-33.3
Arcturus Res	AZN	12	0.04	0.02	0.02	-33.3
Medallion Res	MDL	272	0.06	0.05	0.06	-33.3
Cadillac Vent	CDC	28	0.35	0.30	0.30	-33.3
Intl Millm Mng	IMI	1141	0.07	0.05	0.06	-33.3

TSX-V greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
East Asia Mnls	EAS	14663472	2.85	+ 0.65
Antares Mi nls	ANM	196365	1.59	+ 0.49
Aura Silver Rs	AUU	13096145	0.43	+ 0.32
Rodinia Minls	RM	1821254	0.70	+ 0.25
Alhambra Res	ALH	975150	0.30	+ 0.21
Anfield Vent	ANF	304150	2.40	+ 0.18
Adriana Res	ADI	595138	0.55	+ 0.16
Wealth Minls	WML	987874	0.51	+ 0.16
Medoro Res	MRS	14515427	0.78	+ 0.15
Bralorne Gold	BPM	12140	1.09	+ 0.15
Chesapeake Gld	CKG	58985	3.92	-0.33
Energold Drill	EGD	240203	2.05	-0.30
Intl Tower Hil	ITH	799441	3.20	-0.21
Underworld Res	UW	892960	1.33	-0.17
San Gold Res	SGR	8543908	2.67	-0.16
Cadillac Vent	CDC	28200	0.30	-0.15
Mantra Mng	MAN	25050	0.75	-0.15
Lions Gate Mtl	LGM	12510	0.60	-0.15
Noront Res	NOT	11793309	2.10	-0.14
Clifton Star	CFO	54710	2.27	-0.13