Montreal Exchange Focus on legal ruling

The value of the Williams gold mine in the Hemlo area of northern Ontario had already been discounted in the shares of both companies, analysts said. It was no surprise, then, the Supreme Court of Canada decision, supporting a lower court ruling to award the mine to Corona, had minimal effect on the prices. Corona A, on a volume of about 1.6 million, gained 50 cents to $9, while LAC, trading 963,100 shares on the week, slipped 50 cents to $12.

A third company, Teck Corp., through an agreement with Corona, will gain a half-interest in the Williams mine; Teck B shares dropped 50 cents to $22.75 on 228,500 shares. Teck and Corona are equal partners in the producing David Bell mine at Hemlo.

Daily trading volumes during the week were fairly strong, ranging between 6.9 million and 8.2 million shares. The market portfolio closed down 6.4 pts, while the mining and minerals index advanced more than 24 pts.

Latest drilling results from the Aur-Louvem discovery were positive, although you wouldn’t think so from the market prices. Trading a respectable 654,300 shares, Louvem fell 38 cents to $7.13, while Aur was off 13 cents to $10.13 with 179,400 shares changing hands. Results from a total of 18 holes from the same area of the property have now been made public. Louvem’s controlling shareholder, St. Genevieve Resources, traded 397,800 shares and tumbled 26 cents to $2.53.

Among the week’s leaders was Consolidated Abitibi Resources, in which Aur has a sizeable position and which owns property in the area of the Aur-Louvem project. Trading about 1.25 million shares, Consolidated Abitibi climbed 19 cents to $1.65.

Making a spirited effort was Spirit Lake Explorations, which gained 37 cents to $1.65 on a volume of 424,900. The company, which has a gold exploration play northeast of Wawa, Ont., recently hired former Canamax boss John Hansuld as its president.

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