TSX Venture Exchange inches lower, Jan. 8-12

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index fell 1.96% to finish the Jan. 8-12 trading week at 878.20.

Shares of Standard Lithium jumped 30¢ to $2.55 on news that the company signed an option agreement with TETRA Technologies Inc., to acquire the rights to conduct exploration, production and lithium extraction activities on up to 133.5 sq. km of brine leases in southern Arkansas. The leases are next to producing leases owned by Albermarle, and lie in the Smackover Formation, which the company’s CEO Robert Mintak says “may be one of the lithium industry’s most promising regions to develop, given the potential resource size and large-scale brine-handling infrastructure in the region.” Standard Lithium currently is focused on exploration and development of the Bristol Dry Lake lithium project in the Mojave region of California’s San Bernardino County.

Shares of Cobalt 27 Capital, which owns over 2,982 tonnes of physical cobalt and manages a portfolio of seven cobalt royalties, advanced 30¢ to $12.45. The company has added structural geologist Andrew Ham to its advisory board. Ham has over 20 years of buy-side, industry and research experience in diverse commodities and on six continents. His career has also included a stint as director of mining analysis for Sun Valley Gold, an investment advisor in the precious metals sector. He has also served as director of mining research for Passport Capital LLC, a global investment firm; and senior consultant in structural geology for SRK Consulting, a global geology and engineering firm.

Drill results from Northern Empire Resources’ Sterling gold project in Nye County, Nev., sent the junior’s shares up 21¢ to $1.16. Drill hole 32C returned a 5.3-metre intercept grading 16.52 grams gold per tonne starting from a vertical depth of 104.6 metres, including 2.04 metres grading 32.46 grams gold. Drill hole 44-C cut 1.2 metres of 2.85 grams gold at a vertical depth of 68.9 metres and drill hole 45C returned 14.1 metres of 2.23 grams gold from a vertical depth of 109.9 metres. The 100%-owned project hosts four deposits, including the fully permitted open-pit Sterling mine. The company has $18 million in its treasury and plans to drill known targets, expand resources, and explore for new oxide gold deposits in 2018.

Iconic Minerals kicked off an exploration program at its Bonnie Claire lithium project in southern Nevada. The property is 30 km long by 20 km wide and the associated drainage basin covers an area of 57 square kilometres. The company’s goal is to produce an initial resource estimate on the lithium-rich sediments of the basin and provide additional bulk samples for further tests. News of the exploration program lifted Iconic Minerals’ shares 19¢ to 39¢.