The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index fell by 0.36% to finish the June 8-12 trading week at 554.91, with gold finishing the week at US$1,730.50 per oz., a rise of US$46.50 per oz. from the previous week.
Shares of Artemis Gold jumped 75% to $3.09 following news of its plans to purchase New Gold's Blackwater gold project for $190 million in cash. Under the agreement, Artemis will pay New Gold an initial payment of $140 million upon closing and $50 million 12 months thereafter. Artemis hopes to fund the acquisition from the proceeds of a bought deal private placement (about $105 million) and a non-brokered private placement (about $70 million). New Gold will also receive a stream on 8% of the gold produced at Blackwater and $20 million in Artemis shares for a 9.9% stake in the company. The development stage project is located approximately 160 km southwest of Prince George and 446 km northeast of Vancouver in British Columbia. It contains measured and indicated resources of 61.6 million tonnes grading 0.71 gram gold per tonne and 4.5 grams silver for 1.4 million oz. contained gold and 8.9 million oz. silver.
Rupert Resources rose by 21.7% to $2.19 per share. The company released new exploration drill results from the Heina South target at its 100% owned Pahtavaara project in Finland's Central Lapland Greenstone Belt. Drilling focussed on the northern-most part of the prospect. Highlights included drill hole 120011, which intersected 9.5 metres grading 5.2 grams gold per tonne and 1 metre grading 40.7 grams gold from 39 metres downhole. Gold mineralisation lies within a pyrite-quartz vein stockwork up to 20 metres wide and a projected strike length of approximately 400 metres. It remains open to the northeast, the west, and at depth.
Shares of SRG Mining rose to 58 ? per share, up 61.1%. The company signed its sixth offtake agreement for 8,000 tonnes graphite over three years from its Lola graphite project, located approximately 3.5 km east of Lola in the Republic of Guinea and 1,000 km southeast of the capital Conakry. The deposit is over 7.8 km long at the surface, 370 metres wide, and continues at depth with mineralisation exposed along the entire strike length. Surface samples graded from trace amounts up to 20% graphite with over 50% of the graphite occurring as large flake (+80 mesh) and 26% as "jumbo" flake (+50 mesh). The latest offtake brings the total offtakes to 136,000 tonnes of graphite over three years, representing approximately 90% of the project's anticipated production over that period, the company reports.