STOCK MARKETS — Gold index soars on bullish reports from

Investors with shares in a wide range of industry groups were given reason to celebrate during the week ended Feb. 9 as The Toronto Stock Exchange’s 300 composite index surged by 70 points on heavy volume.

Observers contend that the TSE is “playing catchup” with Wall Street, which rallied strongly earlier in the month.

Whether trying to keep up with its American counterpart or not, the Toronto market continued to advance today, Feb. 10, on a strong volume of 60.6 million shares. The TSE 300 index added 28.9 points.

Much of the activity is centred around gold issues, whose stellar performance pushed the gold and silver index up more than 330 points during our report period. The index continued to soar today, adding a remarkable 247 points or 4.2%.

Gold lost US$2 per oz. on the week to US$327.75 in New York. It picked up a dollar in London today to close at US$329.85.

Since the gold and silver index is heavily weighted by two powerhouses, American Barrick Resources and Placer Dome, it tends to reflect their performances more than any incremental move in the gold price. Both issues touched new 52-week highs this week.

Reporting an 89% increase in annual earnings to US$175 million for 1992, Barrick added $2.88 to $40.88. It jumped to $42.25 today.

“Barrick’s plans for a 2-for-1 stock split have been very well received by the market,” says John Hainey of Canaccord Capital.

With a royalty interest in Barrick’s Goldstrike mine in Nevada, Franco-Nevada Mining added $3.25 to $31.

Placer closed the week at a high of $17.63 for a gain of $1.13. The company recently outlined a preliminary reserve of 10 million tons grading 0.12 oz. gold per ton at its South Pipeline deposit in Nevada and has also piqued the market’s interest with work on its Las Cristinas gold property in Venezuela. Placer tacked on another 62 cents to $18.25 today.

As more than 4.3 million shares changed hands, Royal Oak Mines also emerged as a market favorite. The company attributes the strong market activity to recent recommendations of the stock by several mining analysts and newsletter writers. Royal Oak jumped 23 cents to $2.48 and added another 12 cents today on a volume of 1.65 million.

The biggest news to hit the financial community during our report period was Noranda Forest’s agreement to sell its 49% stake in MacMillan Bloedel to a group of investment dealers.

After being pummelled by investors nervous about the health of the Edper Bronfman group of companies the week earlier, shares of Noranda staged a comeback, adding $3.88 to $18.88. The base metal miner closed at $19 today. Proceeds of the $1-billion sale will flow directly to Noranda and help the resource giant to lighten some of its debt load.

While there has been a marked increase in the number of shares traded on the TSE lately, activity on the Montreal Exchange has gone in the opposite direction. Compared with January, 1992, the value of shares traded on the ME dropped 19.1% to $1.88 billion last month.

But the discovery of a microdiamond on Exploration Miniere du Nord’s (ME) Le Tac Twp. property in northwestern Quebec has breathed a little life into some of Quebec’s junior mining companies.

The diamond was recovered from a 15-kg sample of kimberlite by Monopros, which has reportedly opened an exploration office in Val d’Or, Que., and optioned the Le Tac property.

After touching a new 52-week high of 42 cents the previous week, Miniere du Nord shed 2 cents to 36 cents.

Sources say the find has sparked a staking rush by several juniors in the area. Adding 8 cents to 30 cents, Exploration Orbite (ME) has staked an additional 2,500 acres in Le Tac Twp. to bring its total holdings to 8,000 acres.

But shares of the main Lac de Gras diamond players have been relatively quiet of late, as investors wait out the lull before winter drilling begins. A large-diameter rotary drill was recently seen passing through Yellowknife, N.W.T., on its way to Dia Met Minerals’ property at Lac de Gras. Rumor has it the Dia Met-BHP joint venture is planning a bigger bulk-sampling program at Lac de Gras than initially planned. Dia Met lost 37 cents to finish the week at $37.63.