Venture board lacks retail investors

Junior explorers saw continued overall declines during the April 26-May 2 report period as the S&P-TSX Composite Index slid a further 65.7 points to close at 1677.56. Daily trading volumes over the week also fell, to a paltry average of 32.8 million shares.

A looming federal interest rate hike in the U.S. resulted in a depressed gold price, to the dismay of junior explorers. The dearth of retail investors was evident in the weekly tally of new market highs versus new lows. A meagre 12 companies reached new 52-week highs, compared with an astronomical 146 Venture Exchange-listed explorers tumbling to new lows.

Prospective miner North American Tungsten climbed to top spot among volume traders, trading just under 3 million shares and gaining 4 to close at 94. The issue has rallied in the aftermath of raising almost $10 million in financings and emerging from creditor protection. The company holds the past-producing Cantung mine in the Yukon, which it plans to reactivate, as well as the Mactung deposit in the Northwest Territories.

Bolivian gold explorer Eaglecrest Explorations traded 2.9 million shares of volume and gained 12, or 48%, to finish at 37. Drill results confirm high-grade values from trenching at the San Simon property. The nugget effect has prompted the company to construct two declines to obtain a more representative, 15,000-tonne bulk sample, which will be processed on-site.

JNR Resources traded more than 2.8 million shares and gained three pennies to close at 87. Strong uranium prices continue to buoy the company as drilling proceeds at the Moore Lake property in the Athabasca Basin, a joint venture with International Uranium. JNR recently acquired a 70% stake in Altius Minerals‘ Rocky Brook uranium project in western Newfoundland.

Nepean-based Beaufield Consolidated Resources saw 2.3 million shares cross the floor and closed up half a penny at 27. Insiders liquidated 2 million shares at 26 a piece to participate in a 1.8-million-unit brokered private placement priced at 25 per unit. The company is exploring the Opinaca gold project, adjacent to Virginia Gold‘s leonore project in northwestern Quebec. Meanwhile, Noranda is busy drilling on Beaufield’s Troilus copper-zinc project in central Quebec.

Entre Gold gained the most in value among mining stocks, adding 20 to close at $1.15 on a volume exceeding 1.5 million shares. Drilling by partner Ivanhoe Mines on the Shivee Tolgoi property in Mongolia confirmed the extension of high-grade copper mineralization. An intercept of 258 metres graded 2.6% copper and 1.2 grams gold per tonne.