TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE MARCH 18-24

The S&P-TSX Venture Composite Index followed gold, oil, and the Canadian dollar over the March 18-24 trading session, falling 82.94 points or 3.2% to close at 2,481.75 on Easter Monday. Average daily trading volumes over the four-day week were subdued, at 78 million.

Given that gold fell to below US$920 per oz. on March 20 from a record high of US$1,010 per oz. at opening just two days earlier, it’s no surprise that bears dominated the junior board. Only three Venture-listed companies reached new 52-week highs while 210 dropped to new annual lows.

It seems bringing in net earnings of US$14.6 million in the first year of operation grabs investors’ attention for more than a day, as Peak Gold grabbed top trader status for the session. The junior moved 16.8 million shares over four days to close down just 7, at 58.

One high-volume day moved Bayswater Uranium into second position in terms of market activity, though the company released no news. Bayswater is exploring for uranium in Labrador’s Central Mineral Belt.

For VMS Ventures, a series of drill results from the Reed project’s Discovery zone were enough to prompt 7.4 million trades. The junior closed the session down 10 at 64. VMS geologists think the Discovery zone mineralization

may be part of a large debris flow, which leaves the company to search for the source body of mineralization.

In an unpredictable market, investors liked Whitemud Resources, a Calgary-based junior in the concrete business. Whitemud mines kaolin to make metakaolin, a performance concrete additive. The company ended the session up 66 at $7.96.

After buying out Rio Tinto’s 30% interest in the Corani silver-lead-zinc deposit in Peru in early March, Bear Creek Mining had been gaining ground. This week, however, the company lost 82 or 9% to close the trading session at $8.26. The loss mirrored the falling price of silver, which dropped to US$17.50 per oz. from US$21 over three days.

High-grade gold intercepts from the first four holes punched into the Dubenski property gave Houston Lake Mining a healthy boost in a slumping market. Results including 4.77 grams gold per tonne over 18 metres and 12.68 grams gold over 4 metres pushed Houston Lake up 22 or 52% over the session to close at 64.

Chesapeake Gold lost 50 to close at $6.40 on no news. Similarly, Quaterra Resources fell 46 to close the session at $3.14, though the next day the company released news of a US$12.8-million non-brokered equity financing and regained part of that share price loss. And Andina Minerals dropped 38 to close at $3.42, also without releasing any news.

And, tracking the falling price of oil, Dejour Enterprises traded 5.7 million shares to drop 12 or 8% in one day. Over the session, the oil, natural gas and uranium explorer lost 10 to close at $1.48.

TSX-V greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Houston Lake	HLM	335	0.64	0.39	0.64	+ 52.3
Northern Hemis	NHD	593	0.09	0.065	0.09	+ 50.0
Lakewood Mng	LKW	59	0.09	0.055	0.09	+ 50.0
Goldsource Min	GXS	18	0.26	0.19	0.26	+ 40.5
African Metals	AFR	95	0.65	0.355	0.51	+ 39.7
Kernow Res	KRD	70	0.175	0.16	0.175	+ 34.6
Noble Metal Gr	NMG	31	0.20	0.155	0.20	+ 33.3
Cloudbreak Res	CDB	1353	0.09	0.065	0.08	+ 33.3
Mill City Intl	MC	46	0.185	0.135	0.185	+ 32.1
Rome Res	RMR	11	0.56	0.42	0.56	+ 30.2
Luxor Ind	LRL	108	0.07	0.025	0.025	-64.2
Huntington Exp	HEI	50	0.08	0.055	0.055	-60.7
Resolve Vent	RSV	20	0.105	0.06	0.06	-45.4
Westcan Uran	WCU	150	0.085	0.055	0.06	-42.8
BacTech Mining	BM	1196	0.14	0.08	0.085	-39.2
Zinco Mng	ZIM	11	0.18	0.165	0.165	-36.5
La Plata Gold	LPT	383	0.205	0.105	0.105	-36.3
Dynasty Gold	DYG	46	0.09	0.055	0.055	-35.2
Odyssey Res	ODX	2361	0.05	0.03	0.03	-33.3
Zappa Res	ZPA	124	0.055	0.03	0.05	-33.3

TSX-V greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Seabridge Gold	SEA	52822	25.20	+ 0.95
Whitemud Res	WMK	76130	7.96	+ 0.66
Houston Lake	HLM	335200	0.64	+ 0.22
New Pac Metals	NUX	244700	1.75	+ 0.19
Hathor Expl	HAT	3602353	2.06	+ 0.18
Aldridge Minls	AGM	69954	3.00	+ 0.18
Antares Minls	ANM	68200	3.68	+ 0.18
Zeox	ZOX	163950	1.50	+ 0.15
Titanium Corp	TIC	132756	1.52	+ 0.15
African Metals	AFR	95356	0.51	+ 0.145
Bear Creek Mng	BCM	189880	8.26	-0.82
Pan Oce Exp	POE	313731	11.89	-0.51
Chesapeake Gld	CKG	97536	6.40	-0.50
Quaterra Res	QTA	193380	3.14	-0.46
Uruguay Mnl Ex	UME	212290	2.74	-0.44
Andina Mnls	ADM	856909	3.42	-0.38
Rocky Mtn Res	RKY	29353	1.71	-0.29
Mosquito Cons	MSQ	309094	1.82	-0.27
Intl Enexco	IEC	90100	1.10	-0.23
Advanced Expl	AXI	238651	1.77	-0.23

TSX-V most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Peak Gold	PIK	16772	0.67	0.58	0.58	-0.07
Bayswater Uran	BAY	10573	0.485	0.405	0.44	0.00
KWG Res	KWG	10518	0.11	0.09	0.10	0.00
Spider Res	SPQ	8339	0.145	0.11	0.12	-0.01
Sunridge Gold	SGC	8215	1.25	1.02	1.22	+ 0.01
VMS Vent	VMS	7427	0.77	0.59	0.64	-0.10
AlbertaStarD	ASX	6416	0.45	0.37	0.435	+ 0.025
Dejour Enterp	DEJ	5667	1.63	1.36	1.48	-0.08
Montello Res	MEO	5596	0.215	0.16	0.205	+ 0.045
Carmax Expl	CMX	5134	0.105	0.07	0.08	-0.015