Trading Summary (September 09, 2003)

A US$6.60-per-oz. rise in the price of gold to US$381.50 per oz. saw Toronto’s gold index rebound to the tune of 2.69 points to end Tuesday’s trading session at 207.12. The base metal miners chipped in a 3.12-point gain to 156.94, but it wasn’t enough to keep the S&P/TSX composite index out of the red; it finished off 39.5 points at 7,596.51.

Shares in junior Jonpol Explorations shot up 9.5, or 90% of value, to a new year-high of 20 with 5.1 million shares traded. On Monday, the company announced that composite grab samples of core found scattered on the ground on the Goodchild Lake property in near Marathon, Ontario has returned up to 399 ppb platinum and 711 ppb palladium. Jonpol believes the core comes a drilling campaign carried out on the property by Violamac Mines in 1954.

While seeing less action, Canada’s major gold producers all put in gains. Kinross Gold was the busiest with about 5.1 million shares finding their way 41 to $11.11, Placer Dome was next, gaining 23 to hit $19.26, Barrick Gold rounded out the trio with a 7 gain to $28.49.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that a U.S. court will allow a case brought against Barrick and J.P. Morgan Chase to proceed. The suit, launched by New Orleans-based coin and bullion dealer, Blanchard & Co., alleges that the pair conspired to manipulate the gold price. Barrick and J.P. Morgan have 10 days to appeal. Barrick has called Blanchard’s allegations “ludicrous” and “totally without merit.”

Shares in Etruscan Resources rose 9, or 5.7%, to $1.68 on news the junior will acquire the fully permitted Youga gold deposits and three exploration permits in Burkina Faso, West Africa, from Ashanti Goldfields and Echo Bay Mines for US$6.5 million.The Youga deposits are reported to host more than 1 million oz. of gold. For their part, Echo Bay shares finished 7, or 15%, higher at $53.

Inco led a fairly quiet bunch of base metal miners with an 84 gain to $35.73 on about 2.7 million shares. Uranium miner Cameco rose $1.35 to $48.24 after agreeing to issue $200 million in convertible debentures to pay of existing debt. Under the deal, RBC Capital Markets and Scotia Capital will purchase the debentures for resale to the public. The two also have the option to buy up another $30 million worth of debentures.

Boliden added 24 to make $4.99 on thin volume. On Monday, the Swedish miner inked a letter of intent to acquire Finnish-based Outokumpu’s mining and smelting operations within zinc and copper and to sell its fabrication and technology sales units to Outokumpu. In the end, Outokumpu will become a major shareholder in Boliden, and Boliden will rank as one of the world’s leading smelting companies and the fourth largest zinc mining company in the world.

Canada’s junior exchange moved to a new yearly high on the back of a rising gold price. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index gained 16.19 points, or 1.2 and closed at 1,362.17.

Investors took some profits in Knight Resources following yesterdays 35 gain on positive results from the West Raglan property in northern Quebec. The 720-sq.-km project covers more than 70 km of the interpreted western extension of the favourable Raglan horizon, as well as 65 km of the western extension of the Expo-Ungava horizon, which hosts the Mesamax deposit. The best results came from the Frontier South area of the property some 7 km west of Lac Chukotat, where hole 8 cut 3.04% nickel, 1.13% copper and 0.08% cobalt over 14.8 metres from 17.2 metres downhole. Shares in the junior lost 8 to close at 75 on a volume of 1.2 million.

Donner Minerals followed suit dropping 3 to close at 22 on over 1 million shares traded. The junior holds a 27% equity stake in Knight Resources.

Shares in Continuum Resources made a nice percentage move on news the company signed a Letter of Intent with Minerales de Oaxaca, S.A. de C.V. to acquire up to an 80% interest in the past-producing San Jose epithermal silver-gold deposit, as well as other exploration concessions in the nearby Taviche silver-gold district, all located in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. Continuum ended the day at 41, up 8 on 706,500 shares.