Golds take lead in quiet market

The report period Aug. 25-31 saw the price of gold remain relatively stable. It ended US$1.05 higher at US$407.25 per oz. in the afternoon in London. The gold index gained 9.3 points, or 4.8%, to close at 202.93, while the diversified metals and mining index was up by 4.8 points, at 222.69 points. The S&P TSX composite index was up 60.6 points to close at 8,377.03 points. Only one mining stock traded over 10 million shares.

Kinross Gold led the way in volume, trading 12.9 million shares. The issue rose 48, or 6.3%, to close at $8.09. Kinross recently increased its ownership in Cumberland Resources. It owns almost 7 million shares, representing 12.7% of the issued and outstanding shares of Cumberland.

Tahera Diamond had the second-highest volume, with 9.7 million shares changing hands. It closed at 38, up 2.5 over the week. There was no news to account for the high volume.

Wheaton River Minerals rose 3.7%, or 13, to finish at $3.64 on a volume of 7.5 million shares. Coeur d’Alene Mines‘ offer to buy Wheaton expires Sept. 30, and Wheaton’s directors are advising against it. Wheaton still plans to create Silver Wheaton, a spinoff.

Guyana Goldfields surged ahead, gaining 53.9%, or 68, to close at $1.94 on a volume of 914,000 shares. There was no news to account for the rise.

Gabriel Resources shot up 44%, or 55, to close at $1.79 on a volume of 5.6 million shares. Gabriel owns the Rosia Montana gold and silver deposit in west-central Romania. Newmont Mining of Canada has agreed to buy 15 million Gabriel units for $1.65 per unit. Each unit will consist of one Gabriel common share and one purchase warrant. If Newmont exercises all the warrants, it will end up owning 18.6% of Gabriel.

Queenstake Resources rose 6.8%, or 3, on a volume of 5.7 million shares to close at 47. Queenstake reported that it accelerated, by as much as 2.5 years, the settlement of all material obligations under the purchase agreement of the Jerritt Canyon mine with the vendors.

St Andrew Goldfields traded 1.3 million shares and rose 20%, or 4, to close at 24.5. There was no news to account for the high volume; however, at the start of August, St Andrew reported high-grade gold intersections (up to 162 grams over 4.6 metres) from underground drilling at its Nixon Fork gold mine, 50 km northeast of McGrath, Alaska.

Metallica Resources jumped 20% and traded 1.3 million shares in one day (Aug. 31). The stock closed at $1.45 following news its construction and operating permits had been renewed.

SouthernEra Diamonds, formerly SouthernEra, began trading under a new ticker symbol: sdm-t. The gold and platinum interests of SouthernEra have been transferred to Southern Platinum, which trades under the symbol spc-t. Shareholders of SouthernEra received one share of SouthernEra Platinum for each SouthernEra share.