Trading Summary (January 28, 2004)

Toronto’s gold and base metal stocks were overcome by red ink on Wednesday, as the S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 52.47 points to 8,535.71. The golds fell 1.93 points to 205.13, while the diversified miners shed 4.45 points, or 2%, to 214.65.

Canada’s gold majors put in mixed results Kinross Gold made 8 to hit $9.46, Placer Dome rose a penny less to $21.25, while Barrick Gold fell 53 to $26.25. On Wednesday, Barrick announced that it will take a smaller stake in Russian gold miner Highland Gold Mining than previously planned. The major will seek to join Highland at its Mayskoye deposit in the far northeast region of Chukotka.

Some better percentage gainers were found in the lower ranks, EldoradoGold found 19, or 5.2%, to hit $3.87, River Gold Mines advanceda quarter, or 7.7%, to $3.50, and Moydow Mines International gained anickel, or 11%, to make 50.

The base metal miners failed to produce a million-share trader on the day. Ivanhoe Mines, off 30 at $9.55, was the busiest with 958, 612 shares traded. Most of the others traded sideways. Uranium miner Cameco was an exception sliding another $4.50, or 7%, to $59 even. Investors were ill impressed with the company’s small increase in fourth-quarter earnings.

Vancouver — Canada’s junior exchange made up ground with advancing stocks beating declining stocks 467-to-409. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index closed at 1804.14, up 4.42 points, or 0.25% with 84.9 million shares traded.

OntZinc closed at 19.5 up 2.5 with 1.89 million shares traded. The company plans a $1.1-million exploration program at the Scotia mine in Nova Scotia. The objective of the program is to drill gaps in previous drilling to confirm the consistency of the zinc-lead reserves. Predevelopment work will include mining and business studies and attendant environmental definition. The Scotia mine is 100% owned by OntZinc through its subsidiary.

ECU Silver Mining closed the day at 30, up half a penny with 1.56 million shares traded. The company announced that it has entered into a private placement financing worth $999,000. ECU has issued a total of 4.9 million units at a price of 20 per unit. Each unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to acquire one common share at a price of 26 for a period of two years. The money will be used to pay for exploration drilling at the Santa Juana mine, as well as for general production costs in Mexico.

Candente Resources tacked on 4 and closed at 96 with 1.2 million shares traded. The company recently closed a non-brokered flow through private placement of 250,000 units at $1.20 per unit representing gross proceeds of $300,000. The net proceeds of the private placement will be used for funding exploration and development activities on Candente’s mineral properties in Newfoundland. Candente’s cash position now exceeds $5 million and several exploration programs are in progress.