Trading Summary (July 13, 2001)

The Toronto Stock Exchange opened lower on Friday, but rallied early in the day to finish the week strongly. The TSE 300 composite index rose 94.78 points to close at 7,765.60. The forest products, industrial and base metal sectors led the market.

The metals and minerals subgroup closed at 4,612.98, up 81.36 points on the day. The golds were 51.06 points higher at 4,658.32.

Metal markets were subdued, with base metals broadly lower and precious metals down as well. Gold was fixed at US$266.35 in the London morning session, but edged up just over US$267 in later New York trading. Platinum was the lone gainer among the shinies, with a rise of US$7 to a fix of US$560 per oz.

Among the big base metal issues, Cominco was the strongest, reversing a recent slide as it rose 88 to finish at $28.10. Parent Teck caught some of the spin, gaining 35 and closing at $12.35. Noranda was also up, with its close of $16.39 making for a 29 rise.

Uranium producer Cameco continued to make good gains, adding $1.34 to end the day at $35.30. Other winners were Aur Resources, which was up 7 at $2.77, and Boliden, which picked up 2 to close at 38, a gain of 5.5%.

The bigger gold miners dominated their group today, with Barrick Gold up 50 at $24, Placer Dome adding 6 to finish at $15.81 and Franco-Nevada Mining 15 higher at $20.15. That compensated for some profit-taking in the mid-tier issues as Agnico Eagle Mines fell back 42 to $13, Meridian slid 10 to $10.80 and Echo Bay Mines eased 7 to $1.40.

Rex Diamond was once more the most actively traded junior on the Toronto board, but this time it fell 43 to finish the day at $2.59. There has been no news from the diamond explorer’s drilling program in Mauretania since April.

A triple-digit gain in mining-related stocks pushed Canada’s junior exchange higher. The Canadian Venture Exchange composite index surged 34.46 points, or 1.1%, and closed the day at 3,160.34. The Mining Index soared 146.60 points, or 2%, and closed at 7,496.51.

Inca Pacific Resources ended the week flat at 34 on a heavy 454,800 shares. The junior’s joint-venture partner, a wholly owned subsidiary of Antofagasta Plc., is in the midst of a 14,000-metre drill program over the Magistral copper-molybdenum property in Peru.

Shares of Radius Exploration broke out of its narrow trading range, surging 14 to $1.16 on volume of 206,300. The Simon Ridgway-led company is drilling the promising Tambor gold property in Guatemala.

Poplar Resources continued to be a heavy trader, ending the week unchanged at 19 on 395,500 shares. The junior’s 65%-owned subsidiary, North Star Diamonds, recently completed a geophysical survey over the Bottenbacken polymetallic project in central Sweden. A letter of intent has been signed, which would see Poplar take 100% of the subsidiary.

Starfield Resources failed to find a bottom, dropping another penny to 54 on 71,800 shares. The market appears to be awaiting a new resource calculation from the West zone on the Ferguson Lake nickel-sulphide project in Nunavut. The junior has two rigs turning. A third is slated to begin soon.