The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index rose by 2.26%, or 10.45 points, to finish the trading week at 473.09, with gold finishing the week at US$1,702.90 per oz., a fall of US$26.60 per ounce.
Probe Metals climbed 11% to $1.11 per share. The company reported results from winter drilling at its Monique property, 25 km east of Val-d'Or, Quebec. President and CEO David Palmer said the first results from the drilling represented some of the best intersections from the Monique property, so far, and included a new high-grade discovery south of the former open pit. The discovery is parallel to the I zone and returned 18.4 grams gold per tonne over 2 metres in hole MO-39 starting from 26 metres. Drill hole MO-33 tested the A and B zones at depth and intersected 14 metres grading 5.2 grams gold per tonne from 699 metres downhole, including 3 metres of 15 grams gold from 703 metres. Drill hole MO-41, which tested the western extension of the I zone, returned 4.5 grams gold over 14 metres at 94 metres depth, and included a higher grade core of 18.3 grams gold over 2 metres from 105 metres. The Monique property contains inferred resources of 9.13 million tonnes at a grade of 2.25 grams gold per tonne for 661,400 oz. gold.
Orford Mining's share price doubled to 60 ?. The company staked two claim blocks along the Casa Berardi/Joutel Structures in the Abitibi region of Quebec. One block, Joutel South, is at the southern extension of the Joutel trend, in an area "that has seen very little systematic exploration since 1993 when the Eagle/Telbel mine closed," Orford CEO David Christie stated. The other block, McClure East, is located on the easterly extension of the Casa Berardi structural zone, which to the west hosts Hecla Mining's Casa Berardi mine, as well as the nearby Duay gold deposit owned by Maple Gold Mines.
Bluebird Battery Metals rose 8 ? to 16 ?. The company plans to focus its exploration work on its Canegrass project, 550 km northeast of Perth, Australia. Results from its 2018 drill program returned 12 metres averaging 1.17% nickel, 0.93% copper, 0.05% cobalt, 0.76% vanadium oxide, 0.40 gram platinum per tonne and 0.51 palladium per tonne starting from 66 metres downhole. The drill hole contained a higher-grade core grading 1.40% nickel, 0.96% copper, 0.06% cobalt, 0.94% vanadium oxide, 0.48 gram platinum and 0.60 gram palladium over 6 metres starting from 94 metres downhole. "With 115 battery mega-factories under construction, and manufacturers beginning to turn to battery chemistries focused on nickel, manganese and cobalt, we are particularly excited about the potential of our project portfolio in Western Australia," CEO Peter Dickie said in an April 30 news release.