TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE – NOV. 25-DEC. 1

All things considered, it was a fairly uneventful week for the S&P-TSX Venture Composite Index over the Nov. 25-Dec. 1 trading session. The board ended the week up 16.33 points at 739.12, still hovering at 1999 levels. Daily trading volumes were slightly weak, averaging out at 66.5 million.

Only one Venture board company — Macarthur Minerals — reached a new 52-week high over the trading week, while 476 fell to new share price lows.

Macarthur’s share price attained that new high on news that privately held LPD Holdings is going ahead with its plan to take a majority interest in Macarthur’s iron ore project. Macarthur owns the Lake Giles iron project, home to 112 million tonnes of ore grading 24.6% iron, through a subsidiary named Internickel Australia. LPD took on a 30% stake in Internickel in April; it is now paying $100 million to increase that stake to 80%. Macarthur says is will distribute the majority of the $100-million payment to shareholders as a special dividend. The news lifted Macarthur’s share price 47 to $2.12.

One busy trading day was enough to put Hawthorne Gold on the list of volume leaders: the junior moved 3.5 million shares on news from its Frasergold project and over the week, gained 9 to close at 23. Hawthorne and its joint-venture partner Eureka Resources pulled a 13.8-metre intercept from the central B. C. project grading 3.83 grams gold per tonne, among other strong gold hits.

Hathor Exploration had another good week, moving 3.2 million shares to close up 45 at $2.50. The junior recently raised $8 million in an oversubscribed private placement, leaving it cashed up for its winter drilling program at the Roughrider uranium discovery in Saskatchewan.

SouthGobi Energy Resources’ share price spent the week recovering some of its losses from the last few months. The junior traded as high as $20 in the summer but had fallen to $4.50 in mid-November, despite having started delivering coal from its massive Ovoot Tolgoi coal project in Mongolia. South-Gobi gained $1.71 over the week to close at $6.50.

News of a $1.62-million third-quarter loss pushed Whitemud Resources down 79 to $1.31. The junior mines kaolin in Saskatchewan to produce metakaolin, a performance-enhancing additive to concrete. A year ago, Whitemud’s share price sat near $11.

In a move that captures the problems many juniors are facing at the moment, Clifton Star Resources postponed payments on its gold properties in Quebec because of prevailing market conditions. The announcement spooked investors, who pushed Clifton’s share price down 40 to $1.10.

An increased takeover bid lifted Waratah Coal’s share price 26 to $1.51 over the week. The junior’s board rejected an initial takeover bid from private company Mineralogy at $1.41 per share but is now recommending shareholders tender to the increased offer of $1.60 a share. Waratah’s three main coal properties are in Australia, where iron ore explorer Mineralogy is based.

TSX-V most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Largo Res LGO	9709	0.07	0.05	0.05	-0.01
Selkirk Metals SLK	6769	0.05	0.04	0.04	-0.01
Medoro Res MRS	6678	0.04	0.03	0.03	-0.01
US Silver USA	6551	0.06	0.05	0.05	-0.01
Probe Res PBR	4450	0.19	0.11	0.19	+ 0.04
Crowflight Mnl CML	4261	0.20	0.11	0.16	+ 0.05
Hawthorne Gold HGC	3833	0.23	0.13	0.23	+ 0.09
Geoinformatics GXL	3384	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.00
Hathor Expl HAT	3234	2.82	1.96	2.50	+ 0.45
San Gold Res SGR	3141	1.09	0.93	0.99	+ 0.02

TSX-V greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Mano River Res	MNO	1559	0.05	0.02	0.04	+300.0
Sanatana Diam	STA	2687	0.17	0.04	0.14	+250.0
Centurion Mnls	CTN	110	0.06	0.05	0.05	+150.0
Bolero Res	BRU	2120	0.07	0.01	0.05	+150.0
Rio Cristal Zn	RCZ	174	0.05	0.02	0.05	+150.0
Spruce Ridge R	SHL	140	0.05	0.02	0.05	+150.0
Nevada Expl	NGE	65	0.12	0.05	0.12	+140.0
Great Quest Me	GQ	99	0.07	0.03	0.07	+133.3
Grayd Res	GYD	454	0.35	0.20	0.35	+105.8
Eureka Res	EUK	49	0.10	0.05	0.10	+100.0
New World Res	NW	41	0.05	0.01	0.01	-85.7
Chilean Gold	CHN	12	0.03	0.01	0.03	-81.2
Eastfield Res	ETF	26	0.04	0.01	0.01	-75.0
Kent Expl	KEX	98	0.05	0.01	0.01	-66.6
Freeport Res	FRI	20	0.04	0.02	0.04	-60.0
NorthArrowMn	NAR	269	0.05	0.02	0.02	-60.0
Wolverine Mnls	WLV	84	0.05	0.04	0.04	-60.0
Valencia Vent	VVI	267	0.06	0.03	0.05	-58.3
Northern Lion	NL	16	0.03	0.01	0.03	-57.1
Dolly Varden R	DLV	10	0.14	0.14	0.14	-56.2

TSX-V greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
SouthGobi Engy	SGQ	108625	6.50	+ 1.71
Macarthur Mnl	MMS	125800	2.12	+ 0.47
Hathor Expl	HAT	3234224	2.50	+ 0.45
Waratah Coal	WCI	1862771	1.51	+ 0.26
Grayd Res	GYD	454206	0.35	+ 0.18
Energold Drill	EGD	619791	0.86	+ 0.17
Goldsource Min	GXS	576332	1.28	+ 0.17
Exeter Res	XRC	277000	1.75	+ 0.16
Quaterra Res	QTA	33200	0.60	+ 0.10
Sanatana Diam	STA	2686724	0.14	+ 0.10
Whitemud Res	WMK	37170	1.31	-0.79
Chesapeake Gld	CKG	32680	2.60	-0.44
Clifton Star	CFO	59150	1.10	-0.40
Contintl Nickl	CNI	49920	0.48	-0.37
New Pac Metals	NUX	10467	0.49	-0.32
Canplats Res	CPQ	615835	1.20	-0.19
Dolly Varden R	DLV	10000	0.14	-0.18
Antares Minls	ANM	130000	0.60	-0.15
Aranka Gold	ARK	12500	0.19	-0.15
Intl Tower Hil	ITH	158800	1.21	-0.14