Alberta Stock Exchange Big traders lose out

A number of Alberta gold issues suffered as the price of gold dipped from $441 to $434(US) per oz in response to a reduced outlook for inflation.

One of the biggest casualties was the International Baslen issue which has been buoyed recently by an ownership dispute involving 148 claims in the Hemlo, Ont., gold belt.

Despite an announcement that Baslen has been offered a 20% stake in a company set up to hold the Hemlo claims, the issue dropped 43 cents to close at $1.36. Some of the other big traders like Pelham Gold and Tusk Minerals made little progress despite some interesting developments on the exploration front.

Trading on 269,200 shares, the days third highest volume, Pelham lost 2 cents from its share price to close at 44 cents . Tusk remained steady at 34 cents on a volume of 258,000 shares traded.

Some of the few exceptions to the down trend in gold issues included Tarzan Gold and Zenmac Explorations. Trading on 223,300 shares, Tarzan was up 5 cents to close at $2.00.

The Tarzan issue is acting in response to an agreement giving the company a 100% interest in two large claim blocks covering the western extension of the Geralton- Beardmore gold camp. Tarzan has also announced a $500,000 flow through agreement to finance exploration at a property in the Casa Berardi area where it can earn a 60% interest.

While a comparatively modest 6,200 Zenmac shares changed hands, Zenmac gained 35 cents to close at $4.20.

Mohave Gold also managed to buck the current trend. With 262,500 shares crossing the floor, the Mohave issue added 2 cents to its share price to close at 42 cents .

Mohave recently poured the first gold bar from a a tailings pile at the Eldorado Canyon mine in Nev. The company is currently tussling with Homestake Mining of San Francisco to increase its land holdings in the immediate vicinity of the Eldorado Canyon mine.

It didn’t trade this week, but a couple of flow-through financing agreements with Northgate Exploration has enabled Holmer Gold to accelerate exploration at its Bristol Twp. and Chibougamau mine projects in Ontario and Quebec respectively.

Following the acquisition of 300,000 Holmer shares at $1 per share, Northgate has increased its equity stake in the former company to 27% on a fully diluted basis.