Surging oil prices and anemic job growth south of the border sent gold US$7.05 higher to US$399 per oz. during the Aug. 4-9 report period. Still, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s gold index only managed to edge 0.58 of a point higher to 185.28. The diversified miners fell 7.49 points to 205.67, with slightly-higher tin the lone gainer among the base metals. In the end, the S&P-TSX composite index fell more than 2.1% to 8,183.44 points.
Fighting continued on both fronts of the 4-way merger battle during the report period. Wheaton River Minerals CEO Ian Telfer took the unusual step of offering up the telephone number for Coeur d’Alene Mines second-quarter conference call and the office number for Coeur d’Alene boss Dennis Wheeler, urging shareholders to ask him why Coeur’s offer hasn’t yet seen the light of day in Canada; at least one perturbed Wheaton shareholder did just that. Any formal offer for Wheaton River in Canada must remain open for at least 35 days. Wheaton’s plan to spin off its Mexican silver assets into Silver Wheaton is slated to close on Sept. 9. Wheaton finished off 6 at $3.25 with just shy of 21 million shares traded.
Meanwhile, Golden Star Resources CEO Peter Bradford says his company has no intention of extending its bid for Iamgold, and he expects to withdraw from bidding in the face of a superior offer. Iamgold maintains that Golden Star’s bid is inadequate, and intends to choose its preferred suitor from a group of up to four potential bidders currently completing due diligence. At presstime, that bidder still had not been identified. Golden Star slipped 15 to $5.05, while Iamgold dropped twice that to $7.25.
In another squabble, Reuters recently reported that Bema Gold would soon table plans for arbitration of its dispute with Placer Dome at the Cerro Casale gold-copper project in Chile. Bema and Vancouver-listed partner Arizona Star Resource are looking to revoke the major’s 51% stake in the project for failing to arrange project financing; Placer denies the accusation. Bema grabbed a penny to make $3.02, while Placer rose 58 to $21.42.
On the diamond watch, Rex Diamond Mining added a penny to make 41 after it announced plans to sell off its South African diamond mines to African Gem Resources for 60 million rand worth of shares, royalties and cash.
Twin Mining tumbled four pennies to 16 after announcing that a binding letter of intent with Kennecott Canada Exploration had been terminated after Twin failed to come to terms with a third party at its Jackson Inlet diamond project on Baffin Island’s Brodeur Peninsula. Kennecott, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, had stood to earn up to a 75% stake in the 1,095-sq.-km northern portion of Twin’s Brodeur land position.
Brazilian Diamonds shot up a dime, or 25%, to 50. The company’s partner, London-listed Hidefield, released encouraging drill results from seven holes targeting the northern extension of the Carvoeira deposit on the Cata Preta gold project in Brazil. The holes are highlighted by a 2.6-metre section running 11.2 grams gold per tonne. The deposit is home to an indicated resource of 820,000 tonnes averaging 5 grams gold per tonne. A scoping study is due by the end of 2004.
Elsewhere, Vancouver-listed Vannessa Ventures‘s 95%-owned subsidiary, Minca, dropped its legal challenges to Crystallex International‘s right to develop the Las Cristinas gold project in Mexico. The move is required as part of Minca’s application for international arbitration. Crystallex’s land-use permit for Las Cristinas was recently confirmed. Vannessa has long maintained that Minca holds the development rights. Crytsallex’s shares scraped up 4 to reach $3.15.
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