Junior exchange follows gold trend (October 13, 2003)

Vancouver — A hiccup in the price of bullion kept Canada’s junior exchange from experiencing another week of impressive gains. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index closed up one tenth of a point to 1393.25 over the week ended Oct. 7.

Spider Resources finished the week at 11, up 2, on a volume of 7.1 million shares. The junior, along with partner KWG Resources, has been working the McFauld’s Lake massive sulphide project in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario. At last report, six new electromagnetic anomalies had been delineated by the AEM survey on the joint-venture property in the immediate vicinity of the McFauld’s occurrence. KWG closed at 16, up a nickel on 2.9 million shares.

Inca Pacific Resources finished the week up 4, to 16, with 6.8 million shares traded. The company released results from a drill program at the Antoro Sur project in Central Peru. So far, 12 of 19 holes have been completed, and assays have been received for the first hole. Hole 1 cut 38.3 metres averaging 1.03% copper, plus 0.33 gram gold and 8.7 grams silver per tonne. This included a 12-metre interval that averaged 2.03% copper, 0.5 gram gold and 21.3 grams silver. Results for the remaining holes will be released over the next four weeks.

ECU Silver Mining continued to trade heavily, losing 3 and finishing the week at 12 with 5.5 million shares traded. The stock resumed trading Aug. 8 after a cease-trading order was lifted. The original vendors have challenged ECU’s ownership (through a subsidiary) of the mining properties in the Velardena area of Mexico. The dispute has resulted in a production shortfall: only 2,606 tonnes were milled between March 24 and May 4 instead of the 5,000 tonnes planned. The average grades for that period were 6.15 grams gold and 299 grams silver, with recoveries of 75% for gold and 38% for silver.

Lateegra Resources added 9 to close at 32 with more than 4.9 million shares traded. Late last week, the junior reported that 2.4 oz. gold per ton over 27.8 ft. were intersected on the Clone property, southeast of Stewart, B.C. Hole 2 was a re-drilled hole from a 1997 program. The first two holes of the current campaign are collared in an attempt to confirm historical results from two of the 140 holes drilled on the property during the period 1995-97. Meanwhile, drill results from the nearby Del Norte property are awaited.

North American Tungsten dropped 2 and closed at 12 with 2.4 million shares traded. The company has been struggling with the effect of a stronger Canadian dollar over the past year at its tungsten mine in the Northwest Territories. As a result, reduced cash flow from operations, combined with a low commodity price, has hurt the company’s bottom line. The net loss for the 9-month period ended June 30 this year was $1.9 million.

Sherwood Mining closed at 28, up 5 with 2.3 million shares changing hands. The company recently completed a gravity survey of its wholly owned project. The survey, which covers the Elu greenstone belt in Nunavut, failed to identify anomalies that might relate to a volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit. Also, the junior says it knows of no developments that might explain the recent share activity.