TSX Venture rises, July 25-29

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index jumped 26.2 points, or 3.4%, to a 796.17-point close, while spot gold prices gained US$28.55, or 2.2%, to US$1,351.28 per oz. gold. Comex copper edged down 0.9% to US$2.22 per lb.

Shares of Eurasian Minerals rose 40¢, or 38%, to $1.45, after the company reported that private company IG Copper was granted government approval to advance its Malmyzh copper-gold porphyry project, 220 km northeast of the city of Khabarovsk, Russia. Eurasian is IG Copper’s largest shareholder, accounting for 42% of the company’s shares. The approval marks the completion of a review process required for “strategically significant” deposits, according to Russian law. IGC and 49% joint-venture partner Freeport-McMoRan both retain control of the project’s exploration and mining licences, and can advance the project towards development. The property’s deposits, prospects and targets occur within a 16 by 5 km intrusive corridor underneath a veneer of soil. Four of the 14 known porphyry targets have open-pit inferred resources of 1.7 billion tonnes of 0.34% copper and 0.17 grams gold per tonne, for 12.5 billion lb. copper and 9.1 million oz. gold, assuming 0.3% copper eq. cut-off.

Lithium and graphite explorer Noram Ventures saw 16.8 million shares traded before they closed up 4¢ to 12¢ per share, on news of assay results from surface and subsurface samples at its Clayton Valley lithium project in Nevada. The phase-two sampling results at its Zeus prospect, 2 km from Albemarle’s Silver Peak lithium brine mine, increased average assays in 71 samples to 0.08%, with a range of 0.002% and a high of 0.17% lithium. The vertical chip samples were taken over a 1.2 km long and 800-metre wide area, and range from 0.6 to 3 metres. On a contiguous claim to Zeus, clay samples taken from borehole spoil piles at the company’s Hades prospect, 5 km south of Silver Peak, returned lithium values up to 0.1% lithium. The company also announced plans to grant 1.25 million shares to certain directors and officers, with an exercise price of 7¢ per share, valid until July 2018.

Shares of West African explorer Sarama Resources jumped 28¢, or 120%, to 55¢. On July 19, the junior provided drilling results at its Karankasso joint-venture gold project in Burkina Faso with 70% partner Savary Gold.

The project is situated 60 km south of Endeavour Mining’s Houndé development project and 130 km southwest from Semafo’s Mana gold mine. The partners drilled 6,500 metres within 43 holes during the second quarter this year, with intercepts returning 11.6 metres of 1.34 grams gold at its S-Nosa zone. The Karangosso zone returned 13 metres of 3.82 grams gold from 270.1 metres deep, and 28 metres of 1.73 grams gold from 140 metres deep. The program extended mineralization on the property along strike and to depth.