TSX Venture Exchange – May 26 -June 1

Buoyed by climbing metal prices, from May 26 to June 1 the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index had one of its strongest weeks since the onset of the global financial downturn. The index gained 44 points to close at 1,140.55, its first close above 1,100 since early October.

Daily trading volumes were strong, averaging 103 million. And for the first time in almost two years, more junior companies reached new 52-week highs than fell to new lows, albeit by a margin of just one: 26 peaked while 25 slumped.

And metal prices continued their slow but steady climbs. Gold gained US$22.60 over the week to reach US$977 per oz., the price of copper added US20¢ to hit US$2.30 per lb., nickel rose US81¢ to end the week at US$6.54, per lb. and zinc climbed US6¢ to US71¢ per lb.

San Gold saw more trades than any other junior over the week, moving 16 million shares for a gain of 3¢ to $2.41. The company released another set of drill results from the Hinge zone at its Rice Lake mine, including 5.2 metres grading 13.7 grams gold per tonne, 3.9 metres of 37 grams gold, and 1.2 metres of 81.5 grams gold. Drills are delineating a series of high-grade, near-surface deposits.

Investors displeased with Brilliant Mining’s latest moves pushed its share price down 11¢ over the week to 10¢. The company just sold its sole project — a 25% interest in the Lanfranchi nickel mine in Western Australia — to Australian partner Panoramic Resources in exchange for 12 million Panoramic shares, which traded at around A$2.20 at presstime. Brilliant also completed a two-for-one share rollback.

It was an exciting week for Yukon explorer Underworld Resources. The company’s latest set of drill results from the White Gold project — including 3.4 grams gold over 104 metres and 3.9 grams gold over 61 metres — lifted its share price 58¢ or 62% to $1.52. Kinross Gold owns almost 10% of Underworld.

Even though a new estimate increased the indicated gold count at its flagship property by 61% in a year, Rainy River Resources’ share price fell 65¢ to $2.30 over the week. The Rainy River property, in northern Ontario, now hosts 55.6 million indicated tonnes grading 1.24 grams gold and 1.89 grams silver per tonne and 64 million inferred tonnes averaging 0.88 gram gold and 2.21 grams silver. The majority of the resource is open-pittable; a small, high-grade segment would require underground mining.

Metallurgical testing has shown that, to increase copper recoveries to 89% from just 70%, ore from Aldridge Minerals’ Yenipazar project would have to be treated with gravity preconcentration before flotation. Investors did not like the news, pushing Aldridge’s share price down 32¢ to $1.68. Yenipazar, in central Turkey, hosts a near-surface, gold-silver-copper-lead-zinc volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit.

And despite finally receiving court approval to buy a 900-tonne-per-day carbon-in-leach mill from bankrupt Cross Lake Minerals, International Wayside Gold Mines’ share price fell 25¢ to 60¢.

TSX-V most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
San Gold Res	SGR	15924	2.56	2.28	2.41	+ 0.03
Mountain Captl	MCI	13287	0.11	0.08	0.09	+ 0.02
KWG Res	KWG	12888	0.04	0.03	0.03	0.00
Brilliant Mng	BMC	11074	0.25	0.08	0.10	-0.11
Great Western	GWG	10913	0.17	0.09	0.17	+ 0.07
Millstream Min	MLM	10811	0.04	0.03	0.03	0.00
TradeWindsVt	TWD	10421	0.09	0.08	0.09	0.00
Goldbrook Vent	GBK	9292	0.07	0.05	0.06	0.00
US Silver	USA	9262	0.24	0.15	0.22	+ 0.05
Forest Gate	FGT	7267	0.03	0.02	0.02	-0.01

TSX-V greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Dot Res	DOT	135	0.10	0.03	0.10	+233.3
Iciena Vent	IIE	1746	0.20	0.08	0.17	+142.8
Nova Uranium	NUC	1813	0.19	0.09	0.19	+111.1
Glen Hawk Minl	GHM	2966	0.03	0.01	0.02	+100.0
ValGold Res	VAL	68	0.02	0.01	0.02	+100.0
Dumont Nickel	DNI	1109	0.03	0.02	0.02	+100.0
Augyva Mng	AUV	34	0.16	0.08	0.16	+100.0
Everton Res	EVR	1003	0.19	0.10	0.17	+ 88.8
Majescor Res	MJX	248	0.30	0.17	0.28	+ 86.6
Rodinia Minls	RM	559	0.52	0.29	0.50	+ 85.1
Brilliant Mng	BMC	11074	0.25	0.08	0.10	-52.3
Canaf Group	CAF	21	0.05	0.02	0.02	-50.0
Intl Gold Mng	IGL	38	0.01	0.01	0.01	-50.0
Prominex Res	PXR	1000	0.02	0.01	0.01	-50.0
Cascadia Res	CCR	93	0.05	0.04	0.04	-50.0
Castle Res	CRI	90	0.06	0.05	0.05	-50.0
CZM Capital	CZM	543	0.04	0.02	0.03	-50.0
Red Pine Expl	RPX	4894	0.03	0.01	0.01	-50.0
Western Troy C	WRY	1089	0.19	0.12	0.13	-48.0
Stratabd Mnr	SB	644	0.09	0.05	0.07	-46.1

TSX-V greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Pac Booker Min	BKM	10700	5.75	+ 0.60
Underworld Res	UW	5961441	1.52	+ 0.58
SouthGobi Engy	SGQ	1051900	11.50	+ 0.40
Eurasian Minls	EMX	515510	1.58	+ 0.23
Rodinia Minls	RM	558555	0.50	+ 0.23
Mantra Mng	MAN	152500	1.14	+ 0.21
Nevada Geo Pow	NGP	1691705	0.70	+ 0.21
Argentex Mng	ATX	357000	0.75	+ 0.21
Sabina Silver	SBB	1393031	1.04	+ 0.20
Intl Tower Hil	ITH	640633	3.38	+ 0.19
Rainy River Rs	RR	1263372	2.30	-0.65
Aldridge Minls	AGM	10100	1.68	-0.32
Intl Wayside G	WYG	220274	0.60	-0.25
Grizzly Diamnd	GZD	192000	0.34	-0.15
WesternTroyC	WRY	1089211	0.13	-0.12
New Pac Metals	NUX	23300	0.70	-0.11
Brilliant Mng	BMC	11073685	0.10	-0.11
Salazar Res	SRL	32150	0.52	-0.10
Hathor Expl	HAT	1798607	2.19	-0.10
Shoreham Res	SMH	680423	0.30	-0.09