For the tail of the tape; the TSX Exchange dropped 1.88%, while the TSX Gold Index plunged 7.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, sank 4.28% with the declining issuers beating out the advancers by a 688 to 245 margin on volume of 130 million shares traded.

New market darling Goldsource Mines (GXS) reported that hole 5 on its Border Property near Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan hit 36.8 metres of coal. The hole was drilled 4.5 kilometres northwest of the discovery hole. Goldsource ended the day down C$0.66, at C$8 even.

Antares Minerals (ANM) tagged 341.8 metres running 0.75% copper at its Haquira copper-molybdenum-gold project in Peru. Antares ended the session unchanged at C$2.99.

Meanwhile in Romania, Carpathian Gold hit 2.01 gold equivalent over 255.7 metres at its Ciresata Porphyry target on the Rovina Exploration License in central Romania. Carpathian ended the day flat at C$0.26.

On the down side, shares of Probe Mines fell C$0.275, to C$0.325, as the junior reported that only three of the first eight holes drilled on its McFauld’s West property in Ontario’s James Bay Lowlands cut ultramafic intrusive rock. None of which appear to have hit any significant sulphides.

A rare bright spot on no news was Zincorp, which added C$0.04 to close at C$0.39. The company has resumed drilling on its Michelle property in the Yukon where the discovery hole cut 40% combined lead-zinc with 510.7 grams silver per tonne over 7.94 metres.

Just when some traction was being made in the junior market, plunging commodity prices drove the overall index back to lows last seen in 2005. We will see what Wednesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Wednesday August 6, 2008