The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index fell 1.6%, or 8.96 points, to close at 547.8 points, as gold prices dropped 1.8%, or US$21.4, before closing at US$1,166.1 per oz. gold, and US/CAD gained 1.7% to C$1.30.
Expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would delay lifting interest rates, possibly until 2016, has helped gold gain 9%, but the short-term investor sentiment could be losing its drive.
Copper dropped 1.3% to US$5,273 per tonne, driven on worries that China’s slowed economic growth could impact demand from the world’s top metal consumer. The world’s second-largest economy reported it grew 6.9% in the third quarter, down from 7% in the previous three months — showing the weakest quarterly growth since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Brent crude oil dropped slightly by 1.3% to US$48.08 per barrel, after an American Petroleum Institute report showed later-than-expected growth in U.S. crude inventories, creating concerns about global oversupply.
Nippon Dragon Resources topped the value-added column, rallying up 7¢, or 300%, to 10¢. The company issued a release stating there was no change to its operations that warranted the spike in market activity. The Quebec-based company holds the Rocmec 1, Denain and Courville-Maruska gold properties in Quebec, along with technology patents for a thermal fragmentation mining method that reduces the need for explosives by using extreme heat to shatter rock within narrow veins.
Kennady Diamonds shares had a run in value, adding 17¢ before closing to $3.12, after the company released a valuation study on diamonds from its Kennady North project, 280 km east of Yellowknife, N.W.T.
The price assessment valued the parcel at US$123 per carat on average, which compares with the neighbouring Gahcho Kué diamond mine being developed by partners DeBeers Canada and Mountain Province.
Three high-value diamonds in the sample included a 4.22-carat stone with a value of US$1,603 per carat, 2.58 carat gem worth US$1,366 per carat and 2.38 carat assessed at US$1,196 per carat.
The company has closed a $48.1-million private placement, which will carry the project towards full feasibility by 2017. A maiden resource on the Kelvin kimberlite pipe is scheduled before the new year.
Reservoir Minerals reported a drill interval of 706 metres grading 0.9% copper and 0.26 gram gold per tonne at its Cukaru Peki porphyry deposit in eastern Serbia, with joint-venture partner and operator Freeport-McMoRan.
The intercept drove Reservoir’s shares up 6¢ to close at $4.46, making it a top value pick.
The project has a 2015 exploration budget of US$18.7 million, solely funded by 55% partner Freeport, which will include a scoping study in the first half of 2016. The giant copper producer will own 75% of the project after a bankable feasibility study.
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