No definitive move for the major averages yet, even with the S&P 500 and the DOW both moving modestly lower on the day so far. But it's the NASDAQ the pros seems to be fixated on right now, and that has yet to crack following yesterday's break below a key level the guys over at Elite Opportunity Pro pointed out yesterday so eloquently. For now, the NASDAQ could go either way, but it's important to remember yesterday's key technical break of an important level we brought to your attention. We can't see today's move lower on the S&P 500 instill much confidence either. We'll just have to see how things start to develop over the next few days. At this point, all the S&P 500 is doing is filling a gap from Monday, so what happens over the next few days becomes increasingly more important for the bulls and the bears out there who continue to speculate on the markets' near-term flow. One thing's for sure, if stocks do end up breaking down, the move could actually end up being great for gold and its junior miners. Gold has taken quite a beating over the last few weeks, however, that's the nature of commodities - they go up and they go down until some sort of clear definitive trend is in place. The monthly chart of the Amex Gold Bug Index shows last year to be an excellent year for gold, while this year continues to yo-yo the precious metal all over the place. When you look at the long-term chart here though, it sure looks like gold might be ready to make another good move soon. We've got a number of junior miners we've been covering for your perusal of late, and if things start to play out nicely with any of their current ongoing exploration initiatives, we could be on the verge of a very good move in any or all of them. Just this morning, we got exploration updates from two of them in Alexandria Minerals Corporation (OTCQB: ALXDF) (TSE: AZX.V) and Desert Gold Ventures, Inc. (OTCBB: DAUGF) (TSE: DAU.V). First, Desert Gold Ventures, Inc. (OTCBB: DAUGF) (TSE: DAU.V) provided the following update regarding the results of a recently completed mapping, rock and soil sampling program at its Segala West permit. The Company has also outlined its follow up drill program at its Segala West prospect in Western Mali. Here's the highlights from their assay results... Assay results from grab samples received from pit mapping and rock sampling on various artisanal working areas at Segala West returned significant high-grade gold values including the following: 41 g/t at Baroya; 19 g/t at Baroya north; 11.9 g/t at Segala; and 39.2 g/t at Baroya north west Segala West permit borders several multi million oz Au deposits including Randgold's Loulo/Gounkoto Mine complex and Endeavour Mining's Tabakoto/Segala mines. I'd encourage you to read the company's PR in its entirety by going to: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/desert-gold-assays-41-0-152900348.html. It's very encouraging and a very detailed explanation of their recent findings. It looks as if the small junior miner could be on the verge of something significant based on today's PR, so with the stock currently languishing around the $.15 cent range here in the U.S., which is well off its highs, contrarian gold bugs might want to have a look at picking up some shares of DAUGF and tucking them away in anticipation of some promising drilling down the road. As for Alexandria Minerals Corporation (OTCQB: ALXDF) (TSE: AZX.V), the stock continues to garner more and more interest lately, which is very encouraging considering its weekly chart here. The developing long-term bottom in the stock definitely suggests a growing bull story here, so today's news was another welcomed event from investors. In short, the company has begun a 30,000 metre program at its Orenada Zone 4 gold project in Val d'Or, Quebec. The summer drilling program is specifically focused on defining and expanding the Company's near-surface gold resources in and around Zone 4, where it has identified a stacked, high grade gold vein system. The Zone 4 property is located seven kilometres southeast of Val d'Or, Quebec, at the western end of Alexandria's 35 kilometre-long property package. The property package straddles the Cadillac Break, a major regional fault zone where mines have produced some 100 million ounces of gold over the past 90 years. Three drill rigs are now on site for the summer program, where the focus is infill drilling in the open pit area (area of the 2009 resource estimate), as well as step-out drilling to the west and also to the east, toward Zone 2. Eric Owens, President and CEO of Alexandria, stated, "We're well-capitalized and ready to build upon the success of our winter program, which was our first comprehensive drill program to test for high-grade gold veins at Zone 4. Although some assays are still pending from that program, it has already extended the length of the veins from 300 metres to 700 metres along strike. This summer we look to expand on that further by focusing on a two kilometre stretch east and west of Zone 4." You can read the rest of the PR here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/focused-gold-expansion-alexandria-begins-133853326.html. However, it does seem like Alexandria Minerals is a key inflection point with its recent drilling commencement, so maybe that has something to do with the quietly increased activity in the stock over the last few months. Assuming they hit pay dirt this Summer, and assuming its recent price trend continues higher, this is another small miner investors may want to consider, albeit for different fundamental reasons than that of Desert Gold Ventures. Either way, a safer way to play any junior gold miners is to spread out the risk among a few, and see what happens from there, because like I've said so many times before, all it takes is one!