TSX Venture on the rise, Feb. 23-27

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite gained on the back of rising metal futures, rising 1.7%, or 11.79 points, en route to a 706.73-point close. Statistics Canada reported that, on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index declined 0.2% in January, matching its drop in December. U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 2.2% annual rate in the fourth quarter, weaker than the estimated 2.6%.

Gold futures rallied, with April contracts for bullion jumping US$8.20 before finishing the trading period at US$1,213.10 per oz. May contracts for copper rose 3.9%, or US10¢, en route to a US$2.70 per lb. close, while April contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude oil lost 2.1%, or US$1.05, before closing at US$49.76 per barrel.

Explorer North Arrow Minerals reported initial diamond recoveries from its Qilalugaq diamond project, 9 km from Repulse Bay, Nunavut. Shares rose 45%, or 26¢, on 529,150 traded before finishing at 84¢. On Feb. 26 the company released results from a 1,500-tonne bulk sample taken from the Q1-4 kimberlite, which returned 17 diamonds larger than 0.6 carat and eight diamonds larger than 1 carat.

North Arrow says there are more yellow diamonds by stone count and carat weight in the larger classifications, which was “one of the main questions the bulk sample was intended to answer.”

Kennady Diamonds gained 48¢ before closing at $3.89 per share, after releasing a new drill hole and  updating a private placement.

On Feb. 24 the company reported an “encouraging” intercept at its Kennady North project in the Northwest Territories. Vertical hole 2 extended the the Kelvin kimberlite strike northwest, and cut over 80 metres of kimberlite. The news confirms the continuity of Kelvin’s northwest lobe.

On Feb. 25 the company said it closed the second-tranche of a $20-million non-brokered private placement, wherein it issued 2.1 million shares at $3.55 per share and 600,000 flow-through shares at $5 per share, for gross proceeds of $3 million. Through the first two tranches Kennady has raised $16.3 million, and it expects to close a third tranche shortly.

Pacific Booker Minerals saw its shares rise 65¢ after a potential permit update at its long-delayed Morrison copper-gold project, 65 km northeast of Smithers, B.C. The company closed the week at $6.90 per share.

On Feb. 26 Pacific Booker said it received a letter from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office welcoming comments on Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley investigation regarding the “potential implications of the recommendations of the [investigation] to Morrison, and effects relating to its proposed tailings management facility.”