Broad market takes it on the chin

Weighed down by a sagging industrial products sector, the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 index slipped 164.04 points over the June 6-12 report period. The broad market ended the week at 8,094.78.

Gold gained momentum, rising $4.85 over the week to a London morning fix of US$271.80 per oz. on June 13. In step with their product, Barrick Gold rose 91 to $26.16, while Placer Dome edged ahead 17 to finish at $16.87.

Kinross Gold jumped 14 to $1.49 as it announced an increase in the size of the Goose Lake gold deposit in Nunavut. Kinross can earn a 70% interest in Goose Lake and five other nearby deposits, collectively called the George Lake project, from Wheaton River Minerals. Wheaton fell 1 to 85.

Goldcorp vaulted 93 to $16.20 after revising, once again, its production forecast for the Red Lake mine in northwestern Ontario. The mine is now expected to crank out 440,000 oz. in 2001, at a cash cost of less than US$70 per oz.

Iamgold climbed 19 to $3.10 prior to releasing an exploration update for various gold properties in Africa and South America. Although the results were mixed overall, some were good enough to appease the market, as evidenced by the lack of movement in the junior’s stock price on the day the results were released.

Except for zinc, which remained unchanged, the base metals were down across the board. Nickel took the hardest hit, sinking 23 to a London morning fix of US$3.04 per lb., followed by copper, which fell 4 to US72 per lb. Lead slipped a penny to US20 per lb.

Not surprisingly, producers suffered losses: Teck‘s B-series dove $1.83 to $15.12; Inco sank $1.67 to $27.23; Falconbridge fell 62 to $18.63; and Noranda slipped 8 to $16.79.

Another 18,625 tonnes of zinc metal were added to London warehouses, bringing the volume held to 289,675 tonnes. Consequently, Cominco was shot down $3.10 to $33.05, while Breakwater Resources tumbled 20 to $1.28.

First Quantum Minerals completed a private placement to raise more than $35 million in gross proceeds. As the new shares were priced at $4.05 apiece, the mid-tier copper miner was pushed down 27 to $4.10.

Among juniors, Cumberland Resources climbed 6 to 80 after announcing it had intersected more gold at its Meadowbank project in Nunavut. Nineteen widely spaced holes expanded the Vault zone in all three dimensions. A resource increase is therefore expected.

Virginia Gold Mines and Noranda have joined forces to explore a vast swath of central and northern Quebec for base metal deposits. Under the arrangement, Noranda bought just under $1 million worth of Virginia treasury shares. Virginia ended the week at 67, unchanged from the previous week.