Labrador find fails to rouse western markets

The Vancouver Stock Exchange indexes continued on a downward trend over the report period ended Jan. 24, with the exception of the resource index which gained 1.28 points to finish at 1,189.48. As for the composite index, it lost 14.2 points to close at 728.32.

The Voisey Bay area, along the coast of Labrador, continues to be a hotbed of activity for Vancouver-listed juniors as they respond to Toronto-listed Diamond Fields Resources’ base metal discovery. International CanAlaska Resources closed up 1 cents to 30 cents. A geological report on the company’s 15,000-acre, 252-claim block in the Voisey Bay area recommends an initial phase of exploration. A budgeted $290,000 work program will include photo interpretation, geological mapping, prospecting, a ground magnetometer survey and stream sediment sampling. The company is negotiating to acquire additional property, and plans to joint-venture one or more of its claim blocks.

The joint acquisition of three separate claim blocks in the Voisey and Nain Bay area had mixed results for Beecher Energy and Curion Ventures. Beecher finished down 14 cents at $1.66, while Curion closed up 19 cents at 90 cents. Ongoing exploration on the Tarkwa concession in southwestern Ghana has increased reserves in three areas — Akontansi East, Mantraim and Pepe — to 5.5 million oz. gold. A prefeasibility study will consider the economics of an open-pit, heap-leach operation. Mutual Resources holds a 5% interest in the concession, including the Tarkwa gold mine. Owner Gold Fields Ghana produces about 45,000 oz. per year from the underground operation, which hosts reserves of an estimated 560,000 oz. Mutual closed at $2, up 17 cents on light trading.

The initiation of an exploration program in Vietnam and a signed letter-of-intent to acquire a 49% interest in an underground mine in China did little for Pan Pacific Gold. The issue traded down 6 cents to close at 34 cents. A joint venture, gold-silver exploration program between Pan Pacific and a Vietnamese-owned company is under way at the Vinh An camp in Dong Nai province. The property is the site of primitive, small-scale gold mining, and Pan Pacific believes the potential exists for a bulk-tonnage, open-pit deposit. Previous sampling of tailings and rocks returned values of up to 6 grams gold per tonne. A broader sampling program of the property is to be followed by drilling. In China, the company is awaiting formal approval from the Chinese government regarding its intention to acquire a 49% share of a 250-tonne-per-day underground gold mine. Terms call for Pan Pacific to provide financing and modern mining technology. At last count, reserves totalled 4.5 million tonnes grading 6.5 grams.

On heavy trading, Sidon International Resources closed at 50 cents, down 4 cents. The company reached an agreement to acquire full interest in a 10-year mining lease of a 560-hectare property in southeastern California. Sidon is required to pay US$60,000 over three years, plus a royalty of 3%. The mining lease is renewable for 60 years at the company’s option.

Topper Gold jumped 14 cents to close at 55 cents. The company is conducting an exploration program on the Laredo property in the Penticton area of British Columbia. Topper holds an option to earn a 40% interest from Grand National Resources. A large anomalous zone of copper-gold-silver is outlined in an east-west direction measuring 2.4 km in length and 0.8 km in width. South of this zone, and striking in the same direction, is the high-grade Kero vein system. Eight holes testing the parallel veins over a strike length of 2,300 ft. returned an average grade of 0.48 oz. gold per ton over a thickness of 2 to 7 ft. Trenching by an independent geologist on the west side of the Kero vein returned 2 ft. of 50.95 oz. gold, 21.45 oz. silver, 1.78% copper, 2.46% lead and 2.49% zinc. The company is continuing geophysical and geochemical surveys.

Starcore Resources, under heavy trading, reached a high of 56 cents before closing at 51 cents, up 11 cents. The company is negotiating to acquire two gold properties, one in Alaska and the other in the Yukon.

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