TSX Venture Exchange September 11-17

With the price of gold climbing to US$719 per oz., lead pushing US$1.50 per lb., and a number of exploration developments sparking market activity, the S&P-TSX Venture Composite Index climbed 71.58 points over the Sept. 11-17 trading period to close at 2,749.28. Average daily trading volumes were also up, at 90.9 million shares.

The increased activity and strong bullion price did not buck the bearish trend in the venture market, however, with 117 juniors hitting new 52-week lows over the session while only 45 managed new highs.

Noront Resources stayed on as a top trader after the first assays from its Double Eagle nickel-copper project, in northern Ontario’s James Bay Lowlands, came early last week. In three days, the stock shot up $2.20, including a jump of $1.81 on Sept. 13, to close at $3.94 on trading volume of 61 million shares. The stock was halted on Sept. 14. pending further results.

Noront’s discovery prompted nearby explorers to look for similar attention. MacDonald Mines Exploration was the session’s top trader, closing up 25 at 39 on 102.5 million shares traded. The company’s Sachigo Greenstone Belt project is adjacent to Double Eagle. Other gainers in the top 10 included Spider Resources, KWG Resources, Freewest Resources Canada, Canstar Resources, UC Resources and Fancamp Exploration.

VMS Ventures jumped 14 to 36 on trading volume of 14.7 million after announcing a new volcanogenic massive sulphide zone near the former Spruce Point mine in Manitoba.

Developments in Mongolia stirred market activity. On Tuesday, SouthGobi Energy Resources announced it received a licence to develop an open-pit coal mine at Ovoot Tolgoi, the company’s most advanced coal project, located in southern Mongolia. After the news, SouthGobi regained the 85 it lost on Monday. Over the session, the company saw trading volume of 18.6 million.

And after a clarification from the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Authority of Mongolia that neither Western Prospector Group’s nor Khan Resources’ exploration licences are invalid, both companies regained some lost share price. Western Prospector rose $1.21 or 81% in a single day; Khan climbed 61 or 36% the same day, a smaller gain because the company does not own the land it is exploring in Mongolia, making its licensing situation more complicated.

Salazar Resources made significant gains on the results of a sampling program from the company’s Curipamba project in west-central Ecuador. Results from the Sesmo Sur area include 44 metres averaging 3.21 grams gold per tonne and 15 grams silver. Salazar’s share price rose 73 to close at around $3.70 on over 1 million shares traded.

Shares in GobiMin continued to fall, losing 67 over the session to close at $2.14, despite recent announcements of a healthy second quarter and the receipt of production development permits for its Yellow Mountain nickel-copper property in China. Gobimin’s management was not aware of any reason for the price drop.

TSX-V greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Fancamp Expl	FNC	12769	2.91	0.27	2.20	+	528.5
MacDonald Mns	BMK	102468	0.53	0.11	0.37	+	208.3
Spider Res	SPQ	92279	0.16	0.045	0.155	+	181.8
KWG Res	KWG	59995	0.165	0.045	0.135	+	170.0
Probe Mines	PRB	9177	1.16	0.32	0.90	+	127.8
Noront Res	NOT	60958	4.05	1.54	3.94	+	126.4
VMS Vent	VMS	17476	0.39	0.16	0.355	+	102.8
Hawk Uranium	HUI	4316	0.41	0.19	0.38	+	90.0
UC Res	UC	21112	0.75	0.28	0.56	+	89.8
Canstar Res	ROX	29886	0.28	0.095	0.215	+	86.9
Zinco Mng	ZIM	26	0.41	0.35	0.35	–	46.1
Intl Gold Mng	IGL	236	0.055	0.035	0.035	–	41.6
Western Warr R	WWR	73	0.25	0.15	0.15	–	34.7
Glen Hawk Minl	GHM	135	0.07	0.045	0.07	–	33.3
Huntington Exp	HEI	10	0.08	0.06	0.06	–	25.0
Lounor Expl	LO	143	0.19	0.15	0.17	–	24.4
Gobimin	GMN	455	2.81	2.05	2.14	–	23.8
Goldsource Min	GXS	24	0.255	0.185	0.21	–	23.6
African Metals	AFR	19	0.41	0.405	0.405	–	23.5
Superior Diam	SUP	35	0.38	0.30	0.30	–	22.0

TSX-V greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Noront Res	NOT	60958247	3.94	+	2.20
Fancamp Expl	FNC	12768961	2.20	+	1.85
Azimut Expl	AZM	263117	5.11	+	0.91
SouthGobi Engy	SGQ	18565	6.40	+	0.90
Western Prospc	WNP	1409053	2.37	+	0.88
Triex Minerals	TXM	148941	3.65	+	0.85
Salazar Res	SRL	1015632	3.68	+	0.73
Pitchstone Exp	PXP	248528	2.74	+	0.69
Mag Silver	MAG	414479	14.39	+	0.55
Mansfld Mnrls	MDR	1049228	3.24	+	0.54
Seabridge Gold	SEA	157548	30.51	–	1.76
Pac Booker Min	BKM	18539	10.74	–	0.78
Gobimin	GMN	454550	2.14	–	0.67
Golden Chalice	GCR	1152593	1.37	–	0.37
Win Eldrich Mn	WEX	31400	2.00	–	0.33
Pearl Ex & Pr	PXX	2091711	3.36	–	0.31
Zinco Mng	ZIM	25500	0.35	–	0.30
Gulfside Mnls	GMG	217719	1.21	–	0.29
Genco Res	GGC	185583	3.26	–	0.28
Hawthorne Gold	HGC	29000	1.41	–	0.26

TSX-V most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
MacDonald Mns	BMK	102468	0.53	0.11	0.37	+	0.25
Spider Res	SPQ	92279	0.16	0.045	0.155	+	0.10
Noront Res	NOT	60958	4.05	1.54	3.94	+	2.20
KWG Res	KWG	59995	0.165	0.045	0.135	+	0.085
Freewest Res	FWR	40035	0.42	0.185	0.31	+	0.115
Canstar Res	ROX	29886	0.28	0.095	0.215	+	0.10
UC Res	UC	21112	0.75	0.28	0.56	+	0.265
VMS Vent	VMS	17476	0.39	0.16	0.355	+	0.18
Peak Gold	PIK	12977	0.65	0.54	0.61	+	0.07
Fancamp Expl	FNC	12769	2.91	0.27	2.20	+	1.85