TSX Venture Exchange – June 2-8

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index held fairly steady during the June 2-8 reporting period. Opening at 1,131.82 points and closing at 1,140.55, it posted a small loss of 8.73 points. In recent weeks, average daily trading volume has been brisk and it remained so this week at just over 100 million.

Though more companies reached 52-week lows than highs it wasn’t by much, with 18 touching ceiling and 24 hitting bottom. Precious metal prices were strong over the period, too. The price of gold stayed above US$950 per oz. and silver skirted US$16 per oz.

Perhaps in part riding the resurgence of silver, Wildcat Silver gained 34¢ to 60¢. The company is developing the Hardshell property, about 80 km southeast of Tucson, Ariz., where it has calculated a 9.3-million-tonne inferred resource grading 161.7 grams silver per tonne, 0.99% zinc, 0.05% copper and 6.26% manganese. Taking advantage of the strength of silver, Wildcat announced a $3-million private placement. It plans on issuing 10 million units at 30¢ apiece with each unit comprising one share and one warrant exercisable at 50¢ for two years following closing of the subscription.

Investor appetite drove Tirex Resources to $1.45 on a 45¢ gain. Tirex has begun drilling again at its Mirdita property in Albania, where it is targeting several volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits. At the Koshaj target, for example, Tirex has drilled as much as 65 metres grading 0.6% copper, 9% zinc, 0.3% lead, 48.4 grams silver and 2.7 grams gold per tonne.

Strong quarterly earnings, in the face of slowing revenues, likely helped propel Energold Drilling up 26¢ to $1.91. It posted net earnings of $402,500 in the first quarter of 2009 at the end of May.

Riding the lithium train, fuelled by investors betting that increased demand for lithium-containing batteries will push up the metal’s price, Coniagas Resources gained 29¢ to $1.24. It is looking for lithium outside areas conventionally associated with it — Bolivia and Nevada, for example. Its flagship property, Cyr, is in northwestern Quebec, near the head of Hudson Bay. In an 18-hole drill program last year, it consistently hit about 1.5% lithium oxide over widths ranging between about 5 and 10 metres. Coniagas’s share price gain adds to a meteoric rise since December 2008, when it was trading below 10¢.

Underworld Resources was up 25¢ to $1.68 and it capitalized on its healthy share price, announcing a $14.5-million private placement. The wind in its sails originates from strong drill results at its White Gold property in the Yukon, where it recently drilled as much as 104 metres grading 3.39 grams gold.

Most share price losses during the reporting period were modest. SouthGobi Energy Resources, a miner of Mongolian coal, lost 95¢ to $9.85, and Andina Minerals was down 30¢ to $1.69.

TSX-V most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Torch Rvr Res	TCR	12983	0.05	0.02	0.04	+ 0.02
Bonaventure En	BVT	12217	0.02	0.01	0.02	0.00
Wildcat Silver	WS	10947	0.75	0.25	0.60	+ 0.34
Mountain Captl	MCI	9546	0.13	0.09	0.10	+ 0.01
Strike Minls	STK	8577	0.04	0.02	0.04	+ 0.01
Kalahari Res	KLA	8026	0.02	0.01	0.02	0.00
Rusoro Mng	RML	7575	0.50	0.45	0.48	-0.01
Svit Gold	SDP	7224	0.08	0.05	0.08	+ 0.01
Red Pine Expl	RPX	5936	0.03	0.02	0.03	+ 0.01
San Gold Res	SGR	5698	2.45	2.31	2.40	-0.07

TSX-V greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rolling Rock	RLL	1495	0.19	0.05	0.19	+216.6
Senator Minls	SNR	49	0.06	0.03	0.06	+200.0
Tri Origin Exp	TOE	108	0.25	0.13	0.25	+150.0
Wildcat Silver	WS	10947	0.75	0.25	0.60	+130.7
Hinterland Mtl	HMI	3553	0.10	0.05	0.09	+125.0
IGC Res	IGC	78	0.12	0.09	0.12	+100.0
Nebu Res	NBU	81	0.13	0.09	0.10	+100.0
East West Res	EWR	1909	0.03	0.02	0.02	+100.0
Hawkeye Gold	HKO	3807	0.03	0.01	0.02	+100.0
Torch Rvr Res	TCR	12983	0.05	0.02	0.04	+100.0
Silvore Fox Ml	SFX	2128	0.06	0.04	0.04	-42.8
Cascadia Res	CCR	460	0.04	0.03	0.03	-40.0
Bonanza Res	BRS	208	0.10	0.05	0.06	-40.0
Alhambra Res	ALH	53	0.12	0.09	0.10	-37.5
ICS Copper Sys	ICX	190	0.08	0.05	0.05	-37.5
Columbus Silv	CSC	75	0.17	0.12	0.12	-36.8
Aldrin Res	ALN	13	0.11	0.10	0.11	-35.2
Hansa Res	HRL	123	0.20	0.14	0.14	-33.3
Darnley Bay	DBL	72	0.11	0.09	0.09	-30.7
Ringbolt Vent	RBV	148	0.12	0.09	0.09	-30.7

TSX-V greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Tirex Res	TXX	1196883	1.45	+ 0.45
Wildcat Silver	WS	10946783	0.60	+ 0.34
Anfield Vent	ANF	69100	2.09	+ 0.34
Coniagas Res	CNY	449076	1.24	+ 0.29
Energold Drill	EGD	2201958	1.91	+ 0.26
New Millen Cap	NML	1177229	0.71	+ 0.25
Underworld Res	UW	2331920	1.68	+ 0.25
New Pac Metals	NUX	72519	0.92	+ 0.20
Oro Gold Res	OGR	1229110	0.94	+ 0.20
Nevgold Res	NDG	69900	0.19	+ 0.19
SouthGobi Engy	SGQ	24105	9.85	-0.95
Andina Mnls	ADM	584386	1.69	-0.30
Chesapeake Gld	CKG	21540	4.45	-0.27
Clifton Star	CFO	57803	2.95	-0.26
Canplats Res	CPQ	1125552	2.05	-0.25
Goldsource Min	GXS	469818	1.32	-0.24
Exeter Res	XRC	273400	3.59	-0.21
Antares Minls	ANM	99300	1.01	-0.19
Rare Elemnt Rs	RES	886272	1.30	-0.17
Eurasian Minls	EMX	136862	1.36	-0.16