TSX Venture Exchange October 24-30

Bullion prices cracking back through the US$600-per-oz. level gave the S&P-TSX Venture Composite Index renewed vigour over the Oct. 24-30 trading session, sending it up 4%, or 98.46 points, to close at 2,559.73. Average daily trading volumes reflected the bullish sentiment, rising to 73.7 million.

Despite the market rally, losers still outpaced gainers on the junior board, with 26 companies reaching new 52-week highs over the week while 43 dropped to yearly lows.

Top trading honours went to Strateco Resources with 20.7 million shares changing hands. News that drilling at the company’s Matoush uranium project, in northern Quebec’s Otish Mountain region, delivered a 5.6-metre interval averaging 1.68% U3O8 sent Strateco’s shares up 55%, or 48, to close at $1.35 per share. Spot uranium prices jumped past the US$60-per-lb. level over the session, based on supply concerns; recent flooding at Cameco’s Cigar Lake mine has likely delayed uranium production there for at least a couple of years.

Also benefiting from the uranium rally was UrAsia Energy, closing up 33 at $3.17 per share on trading volume of 20.6 million. The company produces U3O8 from its Akdala mine in Kazakhstan.

Plexmar Resources continued to be a volume leader with almost 14 million shares traded over the session, gaining 23% to close at 92 per share. The company is exploring its Bolsa del Diablo gold project in northern Peru.

Long-awaited results from Skeena Resources’ El Corazon project in northern Ecuador fell short of expectations. Investors sold off the stock on volume of 10.1 million shares, sending it down more than 20% to close at 58 per share.

Shares of Trade Winds Ventures got a 20% boost, trading up 8.5 at 50 apiece on volume of 7.3 million, following a resource estimate for the M zone at its Detour Lake Block A project in northeastern Ontario. The study reviews an indicated resource of 14.2 million tonnes grading 1.77 grams gold per tonne (about 800,000 contained ounces) plus 24.8 million inferred tonnes of 1.9 grams gold (1.5 million contained ounces). The project is a 50-50 joint venture with Pelangio Mines.

Strathmore Minerals enjoyed the uranium rally, gaining 30% to close up 59 at $2.53 per share on trading volume of 5 million. The company is exploring uranium projects in Canada, the U.S. and Peru, and is in the permitting phase on two projects in New Mexico.

Shares in Tri Origin Exploration soared by 148% after the company tabled a resource estimate for its 51%-owned Woodlawn base metals project in New South Wales, Australia. The stock closed up 40 at 67 per share on volume of 3.3 million on the release of the measured and indicated resource, pegged at 8.58 million tonnes averaging 10.3% zinc, 1.8% copper, 4% lead, 84 grams silver per tonne and 0.5 gram gold.

Shares of Indicator Minerals lost 41% to close down 31 at 45 apiece on the week. Initial diamond counts from the Iceberg kimberlite on its Darby project in Nunavut returned 24 stones from a 462-kg sample, three of them macrodiamonds.

TSX-V greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Tri Origin Exp	TOE	3257	0.80	0.27	0.67	+127.1
Ultra Uranium	ULU	116	0.58	0.22	0.50	+108.3
Fancamp Expl	FNC	1957	0.35	0.11	0.24	+100.0
Lithic Res	LTH	1375	0.50	0.275	0.45	+83.6
Northern Abiti	NAI	372	0.11	0.08	0.10	+66.6
Waseco Res	WRI	635	0.235	0.15	0.205	+57.6
Mandorin Goldf	MGD	9418	0.07	0.03	0.055	+57.1
Cons Pac Bay	CBP	1255	0.28	0.17	0.28	+55.5
Strateco Res	RSC	19789	1.44	0.77	1.35	+55.1
Northern Cn Ml	NCA	1160	0.425	0.275	0.415	+43.1
Indicator Minl	IME	1762	0.76	0.45	0.45	-43.7
Starfire Mnrls	SFR	256	0.18	0.14	0.16	-31.9
Orient Res	ORR	2601	0.88	0.67	0.70	-27.0
Darnley Bay	DBL	113	0.13	0.09	0.095	-24.0
MacDonald Mns	BMK	195	0.10	0.08	0.08	-23.8
Kettle River	KRR	102	0.39	0.33	0.33	-23.2
Louvem Mines	LOV	64	0.37	0.30	0.30	-23.0
Navasota Res	NAV	130	0.12	0.085	0.085	-22.7
Verona Dev	VDC	93	0.33	0.255	0.26	-22.3
Anglo-Bomarc	ANB	44	0.15	0.14	0.14	-22.2

TSX-V greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Aurelian Res	ARU	1948667	37.50	+5.25
Arizona Star	AZS	71041	10.95	+0.81
Nautilus Minls	NUS	909666	2.70	+0.78
Triex Minerals	TXM	1029331	3.10	+0.61
Dynasty Met&Mn	DMM	260614	5.47	+0.61
Bear Creek Mng	BCM	176186	9.51	+0.60
Strathmore Min	STM	4323742	2.53	+0.59
Altius Mnrls	ALS	248749	7.92	+0.58
Seabridge Gold	SEA	35100	13.57	+0.55
Azimut Expl	AZM	511963	3.70	+0.51
Intl Tower Hil	ITH	56700	2.37	-0.51
Palmarejo Gold	PJO	235930	6.70	-0.43
Indicator Minl	IME	1762186	0.45	-0.35
McChip Res	MCS	30000	2.72	-0.33
Orient Res	ORR	2600548	0.70	-0.26
Sunridge Gold	SGC	103258	2.59	-0.21
Contl Precious	CZQ	511296	1.41	-0.20
Thunder Sword	THU	111760	2.51	-0.19
Franconia Mnls	FRA	257962	1.40	-0.18
Midway Gold	MDW	224850	2.50	-0.16

TSX-V most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Strateco Res	RSC	19789	1.44	0.77	1.35	+0.48
UrAsia Energy	UUU	17473	3.18	2.85	3.17	+0.33
Plexmar Res	PLE	10611	0.93	0.68	0.92	+0.17
Skeena Res	SKE	9543	0.84	0.56	0.58	-0.15
Mandorin Goldf	MGD	9418	0.07	0.03	0.055	+0.02
Trade Winds Vt	TWD	6867	0.68	0.42	0.50	+0.085
Gold Reach Res	GRH	6005	0.195	0.135	0.175	+0.045
Strathmore Min	STM	4324	2.55	2.02	2.53	+0.59
Canadn Imp Vnt	CQV	4253	0.24	0.165	0.18	+0.005
Maxim Res	MXM	3744	0.50	0.38	0.49	+0.08