Venture climbs for second week in August 20-24 period

VANCOUVER — The S&P TSX Venture Composite Index climbed for a second week, up 18.46 points in the August 20 to 24 period to end at 1,251.88 points after four days of gains. Volume was fairly consistent with the rest of August at an average of 68 million shares traded daily.

Peru-focused Bear Creek Mining managed the biggest value gains in the period, up 47¢ to $2.87 after five straight days of gains. The latest gains add to the recovery the company has already seen in August after starting the month at a 52-week low of $2.11. On August 16 the company noted it had US$75 million cash and that it expects to submit its environmental and social impact assessment for its Corani project in September. As the same time the company announced results from a 4,300-metre drill program on its Tassa project returned modest results, most notably a 16-metre intercept grading 1.5 grams gold per tonne, 152.8 grams silver per tonne, 1.1% zinc, and 5.5% lead.

Kesselrun Resources’ share price shot up a month after closing its qualifying transaction, changing its name and closing a $1.1-million financing. The company’s stock, which had been halted at 11¢ in late February after first announcing plans to secure a property in Ontario’s Kenora mining district, climbed from 16¢ to 30¢ in the period on 711,000 shares traded. In the period the company announced it was adding 112 sq. km more to its property package at its Bluffpoint project in northwest Ontario, bringing its total property to 226 sq. km. The company, with 17 million shares outstanding, has started a preliminary exploration program on the property.

Rusoro Mining saw a big spike in volume in the period to be the most traded stock on the exchange with 30.2 million shares traded. The volume did nothing for the company’s languishing share price, which ended where it started at 3¢ with 530 million shares outstanding. Rusoro released no news in the period, with its last news out in mid-July announcing it had filed a request for arbitration with the World Bank against Venezuela, which nationalized its gold projects in the country.

Atac Resources jumped 24¢ the day it released high-grade gold hits from its Rackla project in the Yukon, but settled for an 11¢ gain after slipping the rest of the period and ending at $2.64. The company released results from 23 drill holes, including 42.9 metres grading 18.44 grams gold, the best hit yet at the Conrad zone, while on the East zone it hit 27.4 metres grading 4.45 grams gold.

Santacruz Silver Mining jumped in the period, up 35¢ to $1.35, on no news. The company went public in April through a reverse takeover by Forte Resources, completing a $20 million financing at the time. Santacruz is working to commission its Rosario silver project in Mexico by the first quarter of 2013, with environmental permits already secured. The company is also advancing its Gavilanes silver project with a 6,000-metre drill program, and recently released a resource estimate on its San Felipe project that established 39 million measured and indicated silver equivalent oz.