Vancouver Stock Exchange Maqrket frowns on Calpine deal

The high profile companies in the Prime group continued to lose ground today, including Prime Resources which was off a further 9 cents to $2.54. And although it’s not the kind of news people like to hear, brokers say some investors were caught at month-end with burned fingers on the Eskay Creek play.

Prime is proposing to acquire all of Calpine’s shares by way of a share swap. Calpine’s key asset is 50% of the Eskay Creek gold project near Stewart, B.C., and it has become apparent that a number of investors are not thrilled with the offer. Some brokers expect it will be tough for Prime to get the necessary approvals.

Adrian Resources, which is considered to have highly prospective ground near Calpine’s 21 zone discovery, slipped a further 8 cents at $1.60 today.

Brazos Petroleum bucked the trend to gain 20 cents to $3.60 at presstime. The company says it is negotiating to acquire a mining property in the U.S., and it also expects to release initial exploration results shortly from its Iskut River property in British Columbia.

Prime group companies dominated trading over our report period as well, with most still in a downward trend. Calpine Resources was off 75 cents to $5.87, while Calpine’s partner at Eskay Creek, Stikine Resources lost $2.88 to settle at $47.62. Stikine has appointed a fiscal agent to find a buyer for its shares.

Several companies outside the Prime group and active near Calpine’s Eskay Creek project did manage to gain ground. American Fibre added 17 cents to reach $1.11 while Solomon Resources gained a dime to $1.15.

Redfern Resources released some extremely impressive holes from Cominco Ltd.’s drill program on the joint venture Tulsequah Chief massive sulphide project in northern British Columbia. One hole returned a 34.7-ft interval grading 0.87% copper, 2.15% lead, 12.09% zinc, 0.08 oz gold and 5.40 oz silver, while another returned 23.2 ft of 1.30% copper, 1.75% lead, 11.44% zinc, 0.12 oz gold and 3.39 oz silver. Surprisingly, the issue slipped 35 cents to $3.00, which must make company officials scratch their heads in wonder.

Mollie Gibson Mines was an active trader this past week although it lost 1-46 cents . The company recently acquired two mineral properties in the U.S.; one in Oregon and another in Montana.

Crown Butte Resources, which has an interesting gold-copper project in Montana, recouped 75 cents to settle at $14.62.

Fairbanks Gold also pushed ahead, adding another 75 cents to reach $8.62. Fairbanks is drilling a porphyry gold project some 15 miles from Fairbanks, Alaska.

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