standback ... mining news

Jumping junior excites on another bright day

Paul Garvey
Thursday, 28 December 2006

THE inexplicable runaway share price performance of a junior explorer – and an uncharacteristically swift response from the Australian Stock Exchange – provided an exclamation mark on what was yet another buoyant day's trade for resource equities.



The phenomenal run in Goldsearch stock, despite the company not making an announcement of any substance in nigh on three weeks, saw the company jump 7.2c or 150% to 12c.

It may well have gone even higher had the ASX – which has been heavily criticised in some quarters during 2006 for its at times unhurried response to curious market moves – not stepped in and suspended trading in the stock at 2.17pm EDST.

Prior to today, Goldsearch shares had spent a month stranded in a trading band between 4.1c and 5c. The 6.7 million Goldsearch shares that changed hands today is more than double the total number of its shares traded over the previous five business days.

However, for clues as to the cause of today's run, it was worth noting that shares in Central West Gold – which happens to be Goldsearch's joint venture partner at the Mary Kathleen uranium prospect near Mt Isa in Queensland, currently the subject of a drilling campaign – were up 10c or 40% to 35c a share at the close of trade.

The runs of Goldsearch and Central West took some of the shine away from the almost as impressive performance of Uran, which earlier this month announced the acquisition of uranium projects in Ukraine that could be in production as early as next year.