February did not begin well for the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index: the board lost ground every day to end the week down 22.85 points at 1,205.81. Trading volumes for the week averaged 76.6 million, boosted by a well-above-average 94 million trades on Feb. 4.
Galaxy Graphite was responsible for a fair chunk of that volume. In two days, 23 million shares of the junior company traded hands, representing almost every share in its 24-million-share float. The trading frenzy came after Galaxy announced it had discovered high-grade, large-flake graphite at its Buckingham project in Quebec. Sampling at the project, which is home to two historic graphite mines, produced one sample grading 11.5% graphitic carbon. Galaxy’s share price jumped 330% on the news to reach 13¢.
The second company on the venture leaders’ list by volume was also a graphite company. Zenyatta Ventures announced that beneficiation tests on samples from its 100%-owned Albany graphite deposit in Ontario yielded ultra high-purity graphite. The carbon content in natural graphite ranges from 70% to 99%, and Zenyatta’s graphite tested at 99% C or better. The news added 29% to the company’s share price, which closed the week at $1.37 on 13 million shares traded.
The third big junior story of the week came from Encanto Potash, which completed a prefeasibility study on its Muskowekwan property in Saskatchewan. The study found that a solution-mining operation at Muskowekwan producing 2.8 million tonnes of potassium chloride annually could operate for more than 50 years, based on current reserves. It would cost $2.9 billion to build the mine, including a gas pipeline and a cogeneration plant, and the operation would generate a 19.1% after-tax internal rate of return, using a 10% discount rate. Encanto gained just a penny on the news, despite moving more than 10 million shares.
The first two holes of the winter exploration program at the Patterson Lake South uranium property produced 21- and 37-metre intervals of continuous mineralization, including sections that generated off-scale radioactivity readings. Property owners Fission Energy and Alpha Minerals both jumped on the news, with Alpha gaining 80¢ over the week to reach $2.90,while Fission added 10¢ to reach 85¢. Patterson Lake South is located in the Athabasca basin.
Mirasol Resources saw its share price move the other way, losing 20¢ in a day to close at $2.03 after bottle-roll leach testing recovered 80% of the silver from vein and breccia-vein material from the Virginia project in Argentina. Recoveries from the halo-type ore were not economic, and Mirasol is working to identify the host minerals for silver in the halo to increase recoveries.
TSX-V most active issues
| Volume | |||||||
| Company | Symbol | (000s) | High | Low | Close | Change | |
| Galaxy Cap | GXY | 15174 | 0.15 | 0.03 | 0.13 | + | 0.1 |
| Zenyatta Vent | ZEN | 12044 | 1.55 | 1.01 | 1.36 | + | 0.36 |
| Encanto Potash | EPO | 11642 | 0.29 | 0.25 | 0.28 | + | 0.04 |
| Cerro Res | CJO | 11484 | 0.16 | 0.14 | 0.15 | + | 0.01 |
| Oceanic Iron O | FEO | 9495 | 0.2 | 0.18 | 0.19 | – | 0.01 |
| Blackstone Ven | BLV | 6312 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0 | |
| Rock Tech Lith | RCK | 6231 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.03 | – | 0.01 |
| Soldi Vent | SOV | 5894 | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.05 | + | 0.01 |
| Fission Energy | FIS | 5662 | 0.9 | 0.74 | 0.85 | + | 0.08 |
| Canamex Res | CSQ | 5590 | 0.12 | 0.1 | 0.11 | + | 0.01 |
TSX-V greatest percentage change
| Volume | |||||||
| Company | Symbol | (000s) | High | Low | Close | Change | |
| Galaxy Cap | GXY | 15174 | 0.15 | 0.03 | 0.13 | + | 333.3 |
| Eurotin | TIN | 244 | 0.19 | 0.11 | 0.15 | + | 200 |
| Santa Barb Res | SBL | 1699 | 0.09 | 0.03 | 0.07 | + | 180 |
| Senator Minls | SNR | 28 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | + | 100 |
| Galahad Mtls | GAX | 331 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | + | 100 |
| New Guinea Gld | NGG | 112 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | + | 100 |
| RPT Uranium | RPT | 933 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | + | 100 |
| Red Rock Enrgy | RRK | 13 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.04 | + | 100 |
| Firestone Vent | FV | 661 | 0.12 | 0.06 | 0.1 | + | 100 |
| African Metals | AFR | 1019 | 0.06 | 0.04 | 0.06 | + | 83.3 |
| Arco Res | ARR | 77 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | – | 66.6 |
| Wescan Goldfie | WGF | 698 | 0.1 | 0.05 | 0.05 | – | 52.3 |
| Takara Res | TKK | 143 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | – | 50 |
| Goldcliff Res | GCN | 14 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | – | 50 |
| Abitex Res | ABE | 124 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | – | 50 |
| La Quinta Res | LAQ | 310 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | – | 50 |
| Atocha Res | ATT | 75 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | – | 50 |
| Bard Vent | CBS | 41 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | – | 50 |
| Terra Firma Rs | TFR | 444 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.02 | – | 42.8 |
| Tawsho Mng | TAW | 30 | 0.11 | 0.09 | 0.09 | – | 40 |
TSX-V greatest value change
| Company | Symbol | Change | Close | Change | |
| Compass Mnls* | CMP | 334609 | 74.35 | + | 1.9 |
| Soc Quim&M Ch* | SQM | 1766547 | 57.83 | + | 1.38 |
| Silver Wheatn* | SLW | 14829429 | 36.89 | + | 1.36 |
| Newmont Mng* | NEM | 24892777 | 44.93 | + | 1.22 |
| Coeur d Alene* | CDE | 5351439 | 23.22 | + | 1.22 |
| Agrium* | AGU | 416131 | 114.39 | + | 1 |
| Stillwater Mg* | SWC | 11224753 | 14.31 | + | 0.83 |
| Harmony Gold* | HMY | 12170479 | 7.09 | + | 0.53 |
| Barrick Gold* | ABX | 34703203 | 32.72 | + | 0.52 |
| Goldcorp* | GG | 22803517 | 36.11 | + | 0.5 |
| Teck Res B* | TCK | 14739019 | 33.21 | – | 3.89 |
| Royal Gold* | RGLD | 2971912 | 72.8 | – | 1.79 |
| BHP Billi-BBL* | BBL | 1441405 | 68.08 | – | 1.71 |
| BHP Billi-BHP* | BHP | 7154976 | 77.94 | – | 1.45 |
| Randgold Res* | GOLD | 2390068 | 94.21 | – | 1.44 |
| Arch Coal* | ACI | 92375509 | 5.75 | – | 1.3 |
| Peabody Enrgy* | BTU | 31812370 | 23.73 | – | 1.26 |
| Cliffs Nat Rs* | CLF | 24900666 | 36.49 | – | 1.17 |
| Buenaventura* | BVN | 7368637 | 28.46 | – | 1.1 |
| Agnico-Eagle* | AEM | 4906544 | 45.47 | – | 0.79 |
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