Trading Summary (May 09, 2002)

The golds were the Toronto Stock Exchange’s only source of glitter on Thursday gaining 3.14 points or 1.6% to leave the remaining subindices in the dust. The base metal miners were swallowed in the red tide dropping 0.94 point or 0.65%. Overall, the S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 75.56 points or nearly 1% to 7,632.26.

Bema Gold was the nation’s most active miner shedding 6 to hit $1.58 with a shave more than 3.7 million shares on the go. Bema announced that it plans to raise $15 million via a bought deal with a syndicate of underwriters led by Canaccord Capital and Haywood Securities. The deal will see the issuance of 10 million units at $1.50 apiece. One unit comprises a share plus half a purchase warrant. The underwriters can buy another 6.6 million units at the same price. Proceeds will go toward potential acquisitions and additional drilling at its Julietta mine in Russia. Kinross Gold went the other way gaining 15 to make $3.14 on 3.2 million shares. Other seeing action were TVI Pacific, off 1.5 at 7, TVX Gold, plus a dime to $1.40, Barrick Gold, adding 53 to hit 33.28 and Placer Dome 15 richer at $19.85. All saw more than 1.7 million shares cross the floor.

Claude Resources slipped 6 to $1.66 after announcing that it has cut a new zone of gold mineralization about 2 km from its Seabee mine in northeastern Sask. Highlighting results were two holes, which yielded up to 55 grams gold.

Fortune Minerals shed 2 pennies to 78. The company recently agreed to acquire Conoco Canada Resources’ Mount Klappan anthracite coal deposits about 150 km northeast of Stewart, B.C., for $3 million.

Canada’s base metal miners traded mostly sideways in quiet action. Sherritt International grabbed a dime to reach $4.85 on just fewer than 1 million shares, enough to lead the class. Others on the plus side were Falconbridge, up 6 to $19.65, and Aur Resources, 14 higher at $3.86.

Canada’s junior exchange rebounded with the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index gaining 10.51 points, or 0.92%, to close at 1,156.65 points.

Sparton Resources was the most active junior explorer adding 4 or 11.4% to make 39 with a volume of 522,100 shares. Earlier this week, Sparton announced a private placement of 2 million units at 15 each for proceeds of $300,000. Each unit comprises one share plus one non-transferable purchase warrant, with one warrant exercisable for a share at 20 for 18 months.

Odyssey Resources rose 3 pennies to 35 with 408,3000 shares traded. The company recently inked a deal to buy the Altintepe gold property from Teck Cominco. The property lies immediate northwest of Odyssey’s Lucky Star property on the coast of the Black Sea in northern Turkey.