TSX Venture Exchange, March 18-22

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index avoided a week in the red, with a positive showing on March 22 limiting a 10.8-point, or 0.97% loss, en route to a 1,106.35 weekly close.

Global factors haunted Canadian markets, with ongoing drama in the European Union overshadowing promising earning reports in the U.S. In the eurozone Cyprus made big waves while negotiating a potential bailout for its struggling banking sector, while retail and luxury earned numbers in the U.S. that bested many analysts’ expectations.

Meanwhile, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty outlined a relatively unassuming federal budget, though tougher rules on mortgages could impact Canada’s cooling housing market with regulations increasing on bank-issued insurance for higher-ratio loans. The Canadian dollar closed out the week at US97.78¢.

Commodities had a fairly positive trading period, with June contracts for gold bullion jumping US$4.70 to close at US$1607.70 per oz., while May contracts for crude oil gained 1.5%, or US$1.38 per barrel, en route to a US$93.86 weekly close. Copper futures were the week’s sole loser, dropping US1.8¢ to close at US$3.47 per lb.

Saskatoon-based rare earth outfit Great Western Minerals was the most active company, trading 8.3 million shares before closing at 18¢, as it released a preliminary economic assessment for its past-producing Steenkampskraal rare earth project in South Africa. Steenkampskraal hosts 176,000 indicated tonnes of monazite grading 18.2% total rare earth oxides (TREO), as well as 278,000 inferred tonnes averaging 15.2% TREO at a 1% cut-off grade. The US$176-million project carries a $555-million after-tax net present value and a 66% internal rate of return at a 10% discount rate.

Uranium explorer Fission Energy had a busy week after 8 million shares changed hands, as the company gained 5¢ before closing at $1.08 per share. Fission issued two news releases mid-week that focused on drill results from its 50%-owned Patterson Lake South project in Saskatchewan. Fission announced the discovery of a third mineralized zone at Patterson Lake, when a discovery hole intersected a band of weak-to-moderate mineralization over 22 metres, roughly 390 metres east of the R390E zone, which has returned 11.7-metre highlights of off-scale radioactivity in 58 metres of mineralization, and 13.9 metres of off-scale in 53 metres of mineralization. Patterson Lake demonstrates expansion potential, with all three mineralization zones open along strike and width. Fission is exploring the project under a joint-venture agreement with Alpha Minerals.

TSX-V most active issues

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Great Western	GWG	8302	0.22	0.16	0.18	–	0.03
Fission Energy	FIS	8053	1.16	0.99	1.08	+	0.05
Encanto Potash	EPO	7904	0.35	0.26	0.28	+	0.03
Rusoro Mng	RML	7661	0.07	0.05	0.06		0
Skyharbour Res	SYH	6222	0.07	0.05	0.06		0
KWG Res	KWG	5873	0.06	0.05	0.06		0
Avanti Mng	AVT	4726	0.09	0.07	0.07		0
Cerro Res	CJO	4363	0.16	0.14	0.15	+	0.01
Troymet Expl	TYE	3959	0.02	0.01	0.01	–	0.01
Pac Potash	PP	3721	0.11	0.06	0.1	+	0.04

TSX-V greatest percentage change

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Fortunate Sun	FSM	365	0.03	0.02	0.02	+	100
Tri-River Vent	TVR	10	0.25	0.25	0.25	+	100
Stakeholdr Gld	SRC	50	0.02	0.02	0.02	+	100
Senator Minls	SNR	340	0.02	0.01	0.01	+	100
Novadx Vent	NDX	672	0.01	0.01	0.01	+	100
Goldcliff Res	GCN	89	0.01	0.01	0.01	+	100
RPT Uranium	RPT	1055	0.01	0.01	0.01	+	100
Fieldex Expl	FLX	67	0.01	0.01	0.01	+	100
Anglo-Can Mng	URA	921	0.05	0.03	0.05	+	80
Pac Potash	PP	3721	0.11	0.06	0.1	+	66.6
Abitibi Mng	ABB	1062	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	66.6
Silver Shield	SSR	893	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	50
Strategic Res	STI	295	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	50
Nevada Geo Pow	NGP	97	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	50
G4G Res	GXG	50	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	50
Driven Capital	DVV	45	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	50
Red Moon Potsh	RMK	17	0.09	0.05	0.05	–	44.4
Red Rock Enrgy	RRK	160	0.02	0.02	0.02	–	42.8
Rome Res	RMR	11	0.16	0.13	0.13	–	37.5
Anglo Aluminum	ALU	29	0.04	0.04	0.04	–	33.3

TSX-V greatest value change

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Company	Symbol	Change	Close	Change
Lumina Copper	LCC	256062	7.98	+	0.6
Chesapeake Gld	CKG	20148	7.6	+	0.33
Northern Vertx	NEE	89600	0.98	+	0.23
Loncor Res	LN	15000	0.55	+	0.19
Zenyatta Vent	ZEN	1601611	2.24	+	0.18
Anfield Nickel	ANF	102167	4	+	0.13
Tri-River Vent	TVR	10090	0.25	+	0.13
Tsodilo Res	TSD	12956	1.04	+	0.12
D Arianne Res	DAN	1295533	1.33	+	0.11
SilverCrest Mn	SVL	519665	2.64	+	0.11
Palladon Vent	PLL	86911	1.3	–	0.22
Santacruz Silv	SCZ	564989	1.96	–	0.19
Lion One Mtls	LIO	155255	0.5	–	0.13
Olivut Res	OLV	74485	0.47	–	0.13
Gold Reserve	GRZ	193891	2.88	–	0.12
Teras Res	TRA	55451	0.6	–	0.12
Argex Silver C	RGX	2836441	1.12	–	0.11
Probe Mines	PRB	262417	1.64	–	0.11
Energold Drill	EGD	167963	2.3	–	0.1
New Oroperu Rs	ORO	247083	0.3	–	0.1