Vancouver Stock Exchange (December 02, 1991)

Trading activity was relatively flat during the week ended Nov. 26, with the resource index posting a 1.3-point loss to 508.17 and the composite index gaining 5.2 points to close at 561.55.

The recent rally in the price of gold failed to break through the US$370-per-oz. mark, settling at US$366 after a sustained move from below US$360.

Diamond fever seems to have gripped shareholders of Dia Met Minerals. The issue continued to add to last week’s gains, leaping $1.33 to finish at $5.63. Dia Met, in a joint venture with BHP-Utah Mines, is exploring for diamond deposits on its Point Lake property in the Northwest Territories. War Eagle Mining took top trading spot, with more than 1.6 million shares changing hands. The issue jumped 83 cents to finish at $3.10. The company is expecting to receive assay results shortly from drilling on its La Blanca property in Mexico where a number of test pits returned grades averaging 9.67 oz. silver and 0.048 oz. gold per ton.

An agreement giving Big Creek Resources the right to earn a 50% interest in the Casino property in the Yukon from Casino Silver Mines helped both issues. Big Creek closed up 11 cents at 51 cents while Casino Silver added 18 cents to finish at 53 cents. Work in the late 1960s and early 1970s on the property outlined 170 million tons grading 0.37% copper and 0.039% molybdenite. Taseko Mines continues to do well, adding 63 cents to close at $9.38. The company is currently seeking a buyer for the Fish Lake copper-gold deposit near Williams Lake, B.C. Proceeds from the sale of the property would be split between Taseko and Cominco, according to a scaled formula. The share price of Dessir Resources continued to deteriorate, slipping to a low of $1.78 before recovering to $1.88 for a net loss on the week of 28 cents. The company is completing an earn-in on the Gibbs claims in California and is now awaiting exchange approval to issue the vendor 2.8 million treasury shares.

Digger Resources released a statement advising there were no material changes to the company’s affairs following a 60 cents increase in the issue’s price to $4.50. Digger is exploring the Chuchi Lake porphyry copper-gold property in north-central British Columbia with joint venture partner BP Canada. The Supreme Court of British Columbia recently ruled in favor of Cream Silver Mines in an action against the provincial government relating to the company’s mining claims within Strathcona Park on Vancouver Island. Cream Silver was unable to explore and develop the claims after the government changed the status of the land to a class A park. The judgment concludes that the Crown expropriated a chattel interest from Cream Silver and the company is entitled to compensation for the loss. The amount of compensation will be determined by the court at a later date. The issue hit a high of 20 cents following the release of the judgment before settling at 16 cents, for a gain of about 8 cents.