STOCK MARKETS — VSE gathers steam while ASE holds steady — Drill results boost Great Basin, Avalon; GMD fails to recover

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index added 17.54 points, or 2.9%, to close at 631.01 over the report period ended Feb. 10. The mining index gained 18.53 points, or 3.7%, to close at 524.01. The combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange remained steady, adding only 0.19 of a point to close at 2180.64.

Great Basin Gold and Toronto-listed Cornucopia Resources announced drill results from their jointly held Ivanhoe property in Nevada’s Carlin trend.

Great Basin holds a 75% interest; Cornucopia, the remainder.

Three of the six holes intersected epithermal, multi-stage quartz veins that host visible gold and silver over intervals of 2-20 ft.

The mineralization is thought to represent a feeder system to the overlying, 3-million-oz. Hollister deposit. Whole core intervals are likely to be sent to Chemex Labs to determine representative gold and silver values.

Preliminary petrographic and scanning electron microscope/ microprobe studies have identified gold-rich electrum and

silver-bearing minerals, such as naumannite, aguilarite, stromeyerite and tetrahedrite. Mineralization occurs in banded to brecciated quartz veins and fissures filled with quartz, kaolinite, adularia and sericite. Great Basin Gold’s issues jumped 30cents to close at $2.05.

Avalon Ventures gained 29cents to close at $1.89. The company has started a 6-to-8-hole drill program on its Wolf Mountain platinum-palladium project, 90 km north of Thunder Bay, Ont. The company is testing a surface showing that assayed up to 3.8 grams platinum and palladium per tonne.

Mineralization is associated with minor sulphides hosted in an ultramafic peridotite that is part of a larger, layered mafic intrusion. Avalon can earn a 100% interest in the 3,440-acre property by spending $500,000 on exploration, cash payments and share issues over the next four years. The company has since acquired additional claims in the area, thereby increasing its land holding to 30,080 acres.

Fjordland Minerals added 5cents to close at 75cents. The company has raised $2 million in private and brokered placements. Fjordland intends to put $469,800 toward working capital and spend $1.5 million on diamond exploration in Greenland and Quebec.

Kalahari Resources edged up 2cents, trading on high volume, and closed at 89cents. Through staking and joint-venture agreements, the company has been voraciously acquiring ground in Mexico’s Zacatecas state. As of Feb. 10, it had staked and recorded 1 million acres, and the land grab continues. The emerging play follows Western Copper’s volcanogenic massive sulphide discovery at its San Nicolas property.

Donner Minerals and Alberta-listed Northern Abitibi continue to make appearances on the market’s most active list. The major players in the South Voisey’s Bay play released a rehash of last year’s news, with no indication of this year’s drilling date. Donner closed up 6cents to $1.83, while its joint-

venture partner, Northern Abitibi, remained steady at $1.50.

Balaclava Mines dropped 8cents to close at 50cents. The company began a reverse-circulation drill program on its Colpayoc project in northern Peru.

Three to five holes will test previous surface trenching results that include 146 metres grading 0.74 gram gold per tonne and 66 metres of 0.67 gram gold.

The trading halt on GMD Resources was lifted on Feb. 9, and shares responded by closing down 7cents to 78cents. Just before the trading halt, the company’s isues were trading at $1.93.