MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — Montreal, Vancouver list homegrown copper explorers

Matemec Explorations (MAT-M), a junior searching for base metals on Quebec’s North Shore, has been called for trading on the Montreal Exchange.

The company’s initial public offering raised $716,000 through the sale of 580,608 flow-through shares priced at 75 cents each and 467,864 common shares priced at 60 cents each. Proceeds from the flow-through sale will be used to explore the Le Marie, Guylaine 342 and Ross projects. Each of the projects has been subjected to geophysical surveys, and two holes sunk into a dyke on the Ross property returned low-grade copper and nickel in disseminated sulphides throughout a true width of 55 metres.

The company has 5.7 million shares outstanding.

* Trading of the shares and warrants of Nebex Resources (NBX-T) has been suspended by the Toronto Stock Exchange on grounds that the company failed to meet the requirements for continued listing.

Calgary-based Nebex recently defaulted its final payment of US$300,000 on a US$2.5-million deal with an Albanian company to buy the Munelle base metal concession in that country. The company also has a debt of about $3 million.

The company is trading on Nasdaq’s over-the-counter board under the symbol NBXLF.

* Vancouver-based Cusac Gold Mines has voluntarily withdrawn its issues from trading on the Nasdaq board.

The decision is based on new listing rules at Nasdaq that require shares to maintain a minimum bid-ask price of US$1. However, the company has retained its listing on the Toronto Stock exchange, where it trades under the symbol CQC.

The company is exploring its Table Mountain mine property in northern British Columbia, as well as at recently optioned silver and base metal prospects in Mexico.

* Recently listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange is Sand River Resources (SRL-V), which is evaluating the acquisition of a majority interest in the Arroyo Azules copper mine in Zacatecas state, Mexico.

The mine mills 600 tons of ore per day grading 1.4% copper. Indicated reserves there stand at 24 million tonnes of oxide material grading 0.7% copper and 14 million tonnes of mixed sulphide and oxide material grading 1.2% copper. Due diligence work is ongoing.

Sand River has 16.3 million shares issued and outstanding.