across the board

Prices and volumes remain depressed even after good news. On Friday, Carbine Resources (CRB) reported the strike length at its Burkina Faso ground had been extended by 1km along with some more promising drill results. That one went through to the keeper, the stock remaining at 6c (against 23c nine months ago).

Ampella Mining (AMX) lost more ground on Friday, its stock now at 76c against $2.43 last July. This is a company that has the largest undeveloped gold resource in Burkina Faso (3.1 million ounces). True, its first gold pour is three years away, but the sell-down of this stock has been relentless.

It bills itself as "Ghana's next major gold producer" and has a large land position right in the heart of the Ashanti belt, but PMI Gold Corp (PVM) has taken its lumps along with the rest of the sector, falling from $1.32 in February to 73c on Friday.

On Thursday, Azimuth Resources (AZH) reported a maiden resource in Guyana of 1.22 million ounces. The market response? A big yawn, with no price change and then it lost ground on Friday, closing at 41.5c compared with 97c in March.

One happy exception: junior Vector Resources (VEC) saw an 8 per cent price pop on Friday after its Gwendolyn East project in Western Australia returned a 5m intersection of an impressive 253.33 grams/tonne gold, including 1m at an eye-popping 1165g/t. Nevertheless, at 8c, VEC shares are down from 14.5c a year ago.