MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — WESTERN MARKETS — Vancouver continues slide, Alberta holds steady

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index lost 4.99 points over the report period ended Nov. 9, closing at 389.13. The mining index slid 4.39 points to finish the week at 269.69. The combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange was down slightly following the bull run of the previous week. The index closed at 2,898.08, down 4.57 points.

United Carina Resources plummeted 48 cents to 71 cents following the release of results from three holes on its wholly-owned Linear Group property, near Gander, Nfld. The best interval cut 0.3 metres averaging 76.16 grams gold per tonne. The drill is now testing the Baseline and Keats showings, east of the Appleton Linear site.

Consolidated Pine Channel Gold rode the coat-tails of United Carina, losing 6 cents to close at 13 cents. The company holds a half-interest in claims surrounding United Carina’s Newfoundland ground.

Starfield Resources lost 8 cents at 46 cents on the release of assay results from the last four holes of a second-phase drill program at its Ferguson Lake polymetallic property in the Nunavut Territory. The best hole returned 16.39 metres averaging 1.2% copper, 0.76% nickel, 0.12% cobalt and 1.31 grams palladium per tonne.

Consolidated Silver Tusk closed at 37 cents, up 12 cents. The company has restructured agreements and mineral rights on its Indonesian properties to reduce payments and secure land under the country’s mining laws.

Leicester Diamond Mines tumbled 5 cents at 8 cents after receiving disappointing results from a PGM exploration program on the Loch property, in Scotland’s Shetland Islands. Drilling intersected narrow bands of platinum and palladium, but failed to locate significant thicknesses.

Far West Mining closed at $1, up 5 cents. The company is gearing up to drill several geochemical and geophysical targets on its Lobo 10 property, near the San Marti-Sabinas mine complex in north-central Mexico. Far West stands to earn a half-interest from Aztec Silver, which is 75%-held by Toronto-listed Canarc Resources.

Chapleau Resources gained 10 cents at $1.10 following the release of results from the first five holes of an 8-hole program on its Squaw Creek gold property in Nevada. Partner White Knight Resources found a nickel at 37 cents.

Hyperion Resources failed to get a boost after announcing visual estimates from drilling on its Monte Rojo massive sulphide project in Cuba. It closed down 7 cents to finish the week at 15 cents.

Muskox Minerals continued its upward march, adding 9 cents at $1.40. The company is preparing to drill a large, layered intrusive with PGM values in the Northwest Territories.

Alberta-listed Leader Mining International, which is exploring the Knife Lake copper-silver project in Saskatchewan, tacked on 7 cents at 90 cents. An exploration program will attempt to identify higher-grade mineralization near existing mineralization.