MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS – WESTERN MARKETS — St. Jude drilling excites Vancouver market

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index continued its downward trend, losing 11.36 points, or 1.8%, to end the May 20-26 report period at 603.21.

The mining index also lost ground, slipping 7.44 points, or 1.6%, to close at 457.46. Meanwhile, the combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange dropped 31.26 points, or 1.3%, to close at 2,271.93.

St. Jude Resources dazzled the market, soaring $1.59 — almost 200% — to close at $2.40. The company released drill results from its 65%-owned Hwini-Butre concession in Ghana. Among the best results were: 10.23 grams gold per tonne over 24 metres; 37.57 grams over 14 metres; and 24.14 grams over 6 metres.

Fleck Resources gained 20 cents to close at 80 cents. The company received permission from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to drill 21 percussion holes on the Dunka Road deposit for use in hydrometallurgical tests. The deposit contains a near-surface resource estimated at 808 million tonnes grading 0.43% copper, 0.11% nickel 0.006% cobalt, 0.44 gram palladium, 0.11 gram platinum, 0.06 gram gold and 1.5 grams silver per tonne.

Mar-West Resources gained a dime to close at $1.50. Market anticipation remains high for further results from the Cerro Blanco gold prospect in Guatemala, where one of Mar-West’s early drill holes hit 111 metres grading 1.48 grams gold per tonne. Also, the company has hired five consultants to carry out feasibility-level engineering and environmental studies at the San Martin heap-leach gold project in Honduras. An engineering group will audit and integrate specialist studies into a final feasibility study report expected in the first quarter of 1999.

Anzex Resources lost 33 cents to close at $1.95. The company is currently drilling at its 100%-owned Longwood platinum-palladium prospect on New Zealand’s South Island. The company has made an application to acquire all the known layered platinum-bearing intrusive complexes on the island.

Donner Minerals and its South Voisey’s Bay partners bounced around the charts in heavy trading. Donner’s issue came to rest at $1.74, up 8 cents from the previous week. Alberta-listed Northern Abitibi Mining lost 15 cents to close at 80 cents, Major General Resources closed up 3 cents at 40 cents, Cypress Minerals lost a nickel to close at 37 cents and Mandorin Goldfields gained a penny to close at 14 cents.

Gerle Gold gained 9 cents to close at 57 cents. The company arranged a $180,000 private placement by way of the sale of up to 450,000 flow-through and non-flow-through shares. The net proceeds will be used to finance exploration on the company’s Canadian mineral properties, as well as for administrative purposes.