Alberta Stock Exchange Varna merits attention

Gold watchers can take heart from the progress of the Varna Gold issue which proved single handedly that even in the current market climate, investors still care about drill results.

Encouraging results from the Mings Bight property on Newfoundland’s Baie Verte Peninsula made Varna the day’s highest trader. With 994,200 shares crossing the floor, the Varna issue gained 11 to close at 50 .

The company has outlined three separate mineralized horizons and results from a phase 1 drill program include 20.5 ft (true width) of grade 0.325 oz gold per ton.

While only 3,500 Biron Bay Resources shares changed hands, the issue gained 20 to close at $2. Interest in the Biron Bay issue has been sparked by Hecla Mining of Canada’s decision to transfer some of its assets into the hands of the Toronto company.

Those assets include the Golden Dome property in Sierra Cty., Calif., and the Mooseland property in Nova Scotia. In exchange, Hecla holds a 40% stake in Biron Bay plus an option on one million additional shares at $4.75 per share. Biron Bay has also been granted an option to acquire a 15% stake in Granduc Mines.

Northfield Minerals, which is involved in a joint venture at the Larder Lake gold property just west of the old Kerr Addison mine, also made progress. Trading on 19,500 shares, it gained 10 to close at 60 .

News that Noble Peak Resources has underlined surface trenching with some encouraging results at its Southwin property, in the Northwest Territories did nothing for the company’s share price. Trading on 1,300 shares, it remained steady to close at $3.75. Results from a region where grades must be higher than average to be considered economic include 15.4 ft of grade 0.125 oz gold per ton.

According to Noble Peak, it is working on a zone which has been defined over 1,640 ft and traced on surface for 1.2 km.

After changing its name from Knutson Mining Corp. to Norad Resources, the company was listed for trading recently on the Alberta Exchange. With 1.6 million shares outstanding and $500,000 in the kitty, Norad is exploring a couple of properties in the Chibougamau- Chapais area in Quebec.

The company is also preparing to begin a trenching and sampling program at the McRae — Ritz property in Hearst Twp., Ont. where previous assay results included 18.5 ft of 0.18 oz gold and 2.5 ft of 0.7 oz. With 16,400 shares changing hands, Norad was down 3 to close at 44 .