TSX Venture Exchange Aug. 18-24

Without a doubt, the S&P/TSX Venture composite index had a strong showing during the Aug. 18-24 reporting period. There were four consecutive days of gains, followed by a small loss on the period’s final day. The Venture board closed up 26.54 points at 1,186.36 points.

More telling, however, was a sustained and brisk trading volume, the highest and most consistent since mid-June. Daily volume ranged between 90 million and 100 million shares, averaging out at 95 million. The crowd was bullish, too, with the number of 52-week highs versus lows coming in at 44 to 33.

The strength of gold over the five days — solid — cannot wholly explain the surge of investment into resources. During the latest five-day period, rare earth elements and lithium dominated the Venture board.

For Rare Element Resources, Brien Lundin of the Gold Newsletter said hold and people bought. Rare Element was up 77¢ to $3.23, part of a meteoric rise this summer that has seen the company go from trading under a dollar to over $3. Investors are pinning their bucks on Rare Element’s Bear Lodge property in Wyoming, where the company is currently drilling 10 holes in an effort to expand resources.

Quest Uranium was up 59¢ to $1.46 on news from its Strange Lake property, which straddles the border between Quebec and Labrador, 175 km northeast of Schefferville, Que. It reported sampling up to 14.43% total rare earth oxides in the new B zone. Quest says it has started definition drilling at the zone to assess the extent of mineralization.

Sampling of total rare earth oxides also propelled Ucore Uranium shares. Operating at the Bokan-Dotsun property on the southern tip of Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, Ucore reported a sample of as much as 15.54% total rare earth oxides. That sent Ucore’s share price up 31¢ to 63¢.

On the lithium front, the mere whiff of it seems to have the power to intoxicate. First Gold Exploration was up 7¢ to 14.5¢ after it announced it had acquired two lithium properties in Quebec’s Eastmain greenstone belt. The property, on strike and 50 km southeast of Lithium One’s Cyr property, has produced historic sampling of as much as 2.5% lithium oxide.

Despite the interest in rare earth elements and lithium, other commodities still held sway on the Venture board. Goldsource Mines, exploring the Border coal property in Saskatchewan, was up 44¢ to $2.06 on news of more solid coal intercepts. Silver and gold explorer Bear Creek Mining gained 45¢ to $2.15 during the five-day period. The appointment of Nolan Watson, a former Silver Wheaton chief financial officer, appeared to give the company a boost.

Network Exploration also made strong gains, up 5¢ to 8¢. It recently announced exploration plans at its La Blanca project in Chile, where it is developing 200 metres of drifts to explore vein structures for gold.

TSX-V most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Mountain Captl MCI	36761	0.34	0.18	0.19	-0.05
Network Expl NET	28236	0.09	0.05	0.08	+ 0.05
Great Western GWG	27365	0.23	0.13	0.20	+ 0.07
Ucore Uranium UCU	15360	0.70	0.31	0.63	+ 0.31
Canada Lithium CLQ	13326	0.82	0.59	0.74	+ 0.05
North Am Gem NAG	9846	0.10	0.07	0.09	+ 0.02
First Gold Exp EFG	9655	0.16	0.08	0.14	+ 0.09
Cons Abaddon RABN	9274	0.10	0.05	0.08	+ 0.01
Red Pine Expl RPX	8821	0.12	0.09	0.12	+ 0.03
Gold Hawk Res CGK	8610	0.05	0.03	0.04	+ 0.01

TSX-V greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
First Gold Exp	EFG	9655	0.16	0.08	0.14	+180.0
Network Expl	NET	28236	0.09	0.05	0.08	+166.6
Global Uran	GU	2365	0.06	0.03	0.05	+150.0
Matamec Expl	MAT	5402	0.18	0.06	0.14	+133.3
Newcastle Mnls	NCM	5499	0.09	0.04	0.07	+133.3
Cons Glob Diam	CK	597	0.03	0.02	0.02	+100.0
Ucore Uranium	UCU	15360	0.70	0.31	0.63	+ 96.8
Artha Res	AHC	96	0.15	0.10	0.15	+ 87.5
Zeox	ZOX	410	0.29	0.13	0.28	+ 86.6
Panthera Expl	PNX	393	0.20	0.10	0.20	+ 81.8
Canaf Group	CAF	180	0.03	0.02	0.02	-50.0
Hawkeye Gold	HKO	181	0.02	0.01	0.01	-50.0
ValGold Res	VAL	285	0.02	0.01	0.01	-50.0
Dajin Res	DJI	50	0.06	0.05	0.06	-45.4
Dot Res	DOT	73	0.09	0.05	0.05	-44.4
ICS Copper Sys	ICX	56	0.05	0.05	0.05	-44.4
Goldmark	GMK	90	0.04	0.04	0.04	-42.8
Northern Shiel	NRN	1787	0.17	0.10	0.10	-41.1
Orbite Expl A	ORTA	740	0.13	0.08	0.08	-38.4
High Ridge Res	HRR	72	0.05	0.05	0.05	-37.5

TSX-V greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rare Elemnt Rs	RES	1738386	3.23	+ 0.77
Quest Uranium	QUC	4411300	1.46	+ 0.59
Chesapeake Gld	CKG	114856	4.40	+ 0.48
Bear Creek Mng	BCM < /td>	216540	2.15	+ 0.45
Goldsource Min	GXS	1569604	2.06	+ 0.44
Anfield Vent	ANF	30100	2.80	+ 0.40
Lions Gate Mtl	LGM	94500	0.94	+ 0.34
Ucore Uranium	UCU	15359555	0.63	+ 0.31
Rainy River Rs	RR	567380	2.20	+ 0.26
Exeter Res	XRC	217959	3.22	+ 0.25
SouthGobi Engy	SGQ	39150	12.50	-0.50
Canadn Shield	EXP	20900	0.80	-0.20
Antares Minls	ANM	51964	1.40	-0.19
East Asia Mnls	EAS	3037433	2.70	-0.15
Universal Powr	UNX	3802026	0.79	-0.13
Galway Res	GWY	2660305	0.50	-0.13
Aura Silver Rs	AUU	5437530	0.31	-0.12
Hathor Expl	HAT	3509657	1.52	-0.12
Bonterra Res	BTR	37864	0.50	-0.10
MBMI Res	MBR	718620	0.18	-0.10