MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS – U.S. MARKETS — Dow wipes out last week’s gains

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 246.81 points for the report period ended March 2, to close at 9,297.61.

Mining issues were mixed in modest trading, as metals prices held steady. New York Stock Exchange-listed Phelps Dodge slipped 81 cents to close at US$46.88 as copper hovered at US62 cents per lb. Australia’s Broken Hill Proprietary also lost 81 cents to finish at US$14.69. Cyprus Amax Minerals lost 32 cents to close at US$10.62.

Rio Tinto fell 82 cents, to US$50.82, after posting earnings of US$1.1 billion, or 50 cents per share, in 1998.

Southern Peru Copper climbed 50 cents, to US$10.12, while parent Asarco gained 19 cents at US$14. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold bounced back after new lows last week. Class A and B shares were up 32 cents and 12 cents to close at US$9.44 and US$9.50, respectively.

American Stock Exchange-listed Getchell Gold slumped $1.12, to US$26.19 per share, while Nasdaq-listed Lihir Gold tumbled $2.75, to US$18.

As gold languished at US$287 per oz., South Africa’s Anglogold rose 56 cents, to US$19, though New York-listed Homestake Mining was off 31 cents, to US$9.19. Newmont Mining was unchanged at US$17.62.

Despite a drop in the silver price, Apex Silver Mines advanced 50 cents for the week to close at US$9.38. Peru’s silver miner, Buenaventura, gained US$1.19 to close at US$15. The May contract on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 20 cents, to US$5.32 per oz.

De Beers Consolidated Mines closed up 63 cents, to US$16.88, while platinum-producer Stillwater Mining gained 62 cents to close at US$23.62.