TSX wobbles on oil and gas uncertainty

Led by energy shares, Canadian stocks broke through the 11,000-mark for the second time in seven days to close at 11,005.47, down some 19.26 points during the report period ended Sept. 26. While hurricane Rita resulted in considerably less damage to the U.S. Gulf Coast than many people had feared, it left a lot of oil and natural gas production in turmoil. With the upturn in oil prices, closing at US$65.82 a barrel, gold followed suit, gaining back lost ground to end the week at US$469.50 per oz.

Crystallex International plummeted as low as $1.17 before surging ahead to close at $1.90, down $1.26 for the week. With a contract to develop the large Las Cristinas gold project in the banana republic known as Venezuela, Crystallex shares were put under pressure by newswire reports that President Hugo Chavez had stated: “Las Cristinas belongs to Venezuela. We will build a national mining company there.” Crystallex reacted by clarifying its position, stressing that there has been no change in either the status of the project or its operating contract. The company then announced the results of a study to double production of a proposed US$293-million mine at a cost of a further US$153 million.

Eldorado Gold was up 8 on heavy volume, ending at $4.20 after releasing positive results from its drill campaign on the newly acquired Tanjianshan gold project in China. The goal of the 2005 program is to expand mineral reserves.

Petaquilla Minerals jumped 22 to close at 70, as the junior reported that a multi-phase plan to develop the Petaquilla copper-gold project was approved by the government of Panama. The Petaquilla project is a massive copper-gold porphyry system containing seven separate mineral deposits totalling proven reserves of 1.1 billion tonnes grading 0.5% copper, 0.015% molybdenum and 0.09 gram gold per tonne. The first phase of the plan, which is slated to begin next year, is the development of the advanced-stage Molejon epithermal gold deposit. Both Teck Cominco and base metal miner Inmet Mining agreed to exchange their interests in Molejon for a royalty. The copper deposits will be developed in later stages of the mine plan.

Shares in Teck Cominco, which announced plans to extend the life of the Highland Valley copper mine near Kamloops, B.C., by about 5 years to September 2013, closed at $52.38, up 13.

Campbell Resources was up 5 to finish at 17 in heavy trading. The junior reported the first results from exploration drilling under way on the Corner Bay copper project in the Chibougamau region of Quebec, 45 km from the Copper Rand mine. Results included 16.1 metres of 9.27% copper, while testing the downdip extension of a deposit containing measured and indicated resources of 831,600 tonnes grading 5.27% copper, less than 600 metres from surface.

Gitennes Exploration slipped 16 to end the week at 76. The company began drilling in August at its Tucumachay gold and silver prospect in the Andes Mountains of central Peru. The project is under option from Inmet Mining, which closed up 80 at $20.75.