MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS – WESTERN MARKETS — Western markets take step on road to recovery — Polymet, Auspex, Int’l Vestor witness boost in price of shares

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index hurtled over the 400 level, making a comeback from last week’s carnage. The index gained 19.53 points, or 5%, to close at 408.39 over the holiday-shortened period ended Sept. 8. The mining index also bounced back, adding 20.03 points, or 7.5%, to finish the week at 286.52.

Meanwhile, the combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange rose 33.5 points, or 1.9%, to close at 1,736.49.

Polymet Mining saw its issue jump 19 cents to close at $1.07. The company is selling its interest in three Labrador properties: Voisey’s Bay West, Harp Lake and Pacific Golden Spike. The buyer will be Polymet’s joint-venture partner, Alberta-listed Anvil Resources, which lost 3 cents to close at 67 cents. Polymet is shedding weight to focus on its wholly owned Dunka Road polymetallic project in Minnesota.

Auspex Minerals and International Vestor Resources released more positive drill results from their jointly held Fetais deposit in Aljustrel, Portugal. Among the highlights was hole 6, which pierced 41 metres (true width) grading 8.18% zinc, 2.87% lead and 0.15% copper, plus 125 grams silver and 1.17 grams gold per tonne. Meanwhile, hole 13 returned 31 metres (true width) averaging 6.73% zinc, 2.64% lead, 0.17% copper, 62.6 grams silver and 1.32 grams gold. Auspex rose 11 cents to finish at 31 cents, whereas Vestor gained a dime to finish at 50 cents.

Donner Minerals and a few members of the South Voisey’s Bay gang — Northern Abitibi Mining, Cypress Minerals and Major General Resources — saw their shares rise in value with the news of continued drilling in Labrador. Donner jumped 13 cents to close at 51 cents, Northern Abitibi closed up a nickel to 25 cents, Cypress Minerals increased 5 cents as well, to finish at 16 cents, and Major General rose 4 cents to close at a quarter.

Avalon Ventures jumped 16 cents to close at 73 cents. The company released an update on its wholly owned Separation Rapids rare metals project, north of Kenora, Ont. A process involving heavy liquid separation followed by froth flotation produced a clean petalite concentrate grading 4.59% LiO2. The concentrate is exceptionally low in iron content, which renders it attractive for glass and ceramic applications. Work is continuing on a process aimed at concentrating the rubidium-rich potassium feldspar and the tantalum minerals. Assuming a 200,000-tonne-per-year mining rate, mining costs for an open-pit operation are projected to be $1 per tonne, rising to $3 after the near-surface reserves are depleted. Processing costs are estimated at $25 per tonne, and capital costs are expected to ring in at $20 million.

International Wayside Gold Mines gained 8 cents to close at 18 cents. The company announced it has begun a new exploration program at the Cariboo gold-quartz mine at Wells, B.C. The work will involve analyzing accumulated reports dating back to 1877. In the mean time, on-site work will attempt to verify previous exploration results.