Venture finds gains in Oct. 31 – Nov.4 period

Vancouver – The S&P TSX Venture Composite Index managed to stay in the black in the Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 period despite renewed uncertainty surrounding the European debt crisis. The index dropped 41.01 points over two days and climbed 61.13 points over three days to end up 20.12 points at 1,650.01 points. Volume was noticeably down to an average of 82 million shares traded daily, a drop in the average of roughly 17 million shares compared to the week before.

Verde Potash was the biggest value gainer of the period, up $1.40 to end at $7.60 on roughly 150,000 shares traded. The company has not released news since outlining a resource at its Calcario limestone project in Brazil, which came in at 89 million indicated tonnes grading 54.71% calcium oxide and 180 million inferred tonnes grading the same. Limestone is a key component in the planned processing of its thermopotash product, which requires roasting the potassium oxide to create an effective fertilizer. The company’s share price peaked at $10.95 in late April, while it was trading as low as $3.31 a year ago.

Lumina Copper continued its steady October climb, rising from $5.60 early in the month to a high of $9.70 on November 3. The company ended the period at $9.35, up 95¢ on roughly 240,000 shares traded on no apparent news. In early October the company released drill results from its Taca Taca copper-gold-molybdenum project in Argentina, including hole 11-35 that hit 586 metres grading 0.77% copper, 0.13 gram gold per tonne and 0.02% molybdenum from 75 metres outside the established resource shell. The company has five drills operating at the 25-sq.-km project in the Puna region of the country.

Northrock Resources saw a 7¢, or 45%, increase to 23¢ after announcing the closure of an option deal to acquire the Manalo gold project in Mali from Appleton Exploration and Delta Exploration. The deal, announced at the end of September, has Northrock paying $50,000 cash, 1.5 million units, and spending US$2.5 million on exploration for 65% of the project, and then a US$1.5-million cash payment to Delta for the remaining 35%. The project spans 146 sq. km in an area roughly 100 km southwest of Bamako, the capital.

Noront Resources was up 15¢ to end at 85¢ following a 20¢ climb in the last days of the previous period. The company released results from 16 drill holes at its Blackbird chromite deposit at the McFaulds Lake project in northern Ontario that included 15.6 metres grading 42.81% chromium oxide, 22.4 metres carrying 4.67% chromium oxide, and 19.9 metres grading 42.4% chromium oxide. The company stated that the results extend mineralization north-northeast and at depth, while Noront plans to update the resource and release a scoping study by Q2 2012.

Eagle Hill Exploration was down 4¢ to 16¢ after releasing an initial resource estimate for its Windfall Lake project in Quebec’s Abitibi region. The resource established 1.14 million tonnes grading 9.1 grams gold for 344,000 oz. gold, plus 1.69 million inferred tonnes grading 6.7 grams gold for 364,000 oz. gold. Over 90% of the resource sits within a 600 metres by 900 metre area and at less than 450 metres deep.