MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — WESTERN MARKETS — Victory, Polymet lead VSE to soaring levels

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index soared 13.66 points, or 3.1%, to finish the week ended May 4 at 450.17. The mining index followed suit, tacking on 11.03 points, or 3.5%, to close at 321.59.

Meanwhile the combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange rocketed 93.29 points, or 4.2%, to close at 2,316.83.

Polymet Mining has determined pressure oxidation to be the optimum metallurgical process for treating ore from its NorthMet deposit in Minnesota. The final results indicate that all metal recoveries, except for silver, are better than those achieved in an internal scoping study. Polymet closed at $2.35, up 57 cents.

Winspear Resources gained 11 cents to close at $3.80. The company announced a joint-venture agreement with ITL Capital and International Riley Resources to acquire an option to earn a 70% interest in their Char property, which is east of the CJ claims held by Mountain Province. The company also announced plans for transfering all of its less developed properties to a separate company called Diamondex Resources. ITL Capital and International Riley both gained a penny to close at 8 cents and 31 cents, respectively.

Afriore Resources has acquired Tweewaters Fuel, the owner of Springlake Colliery in South Africa. Afriore plans to expand the colliery, which currently produces anthracite-grade coal at the rate of 400,000 sales tonnes per year. With the acquisition of Springlake, Afriore and joint-venture partner CIBC Capital will own the rights to a combined proven and probable anthracite reserve in excess of 38 million tonnes. Afriore closed at $1.07, up 32 cents.

International Taurus Resources tabled drill results from its Lyon copper-iron-gold project in Nevada. The company says numerous drill intersections averaged greater that 2% copper. Taurus tacked on a dime to close at 40 cents.

Kensington Resources closed at 45 cents, up 5 cents. The market awaits results from the 1999 diamond exploration program at Fort la Corne, Sask. The project is a joint venture among Monopros, Kensington and Toronto-listed Cameco, each of which has a 30% interest. The remainder is held by Uranerz Exploration & Mining.

Alberta-listed Savanna Resources closed at 4 cents, up 2 cents. The company reported no material changes and could not account for the recent market activity.

East West Resource and Canadian Golden Dragon Resources have jointly acquired two claim groups northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont. The companies plan to explore for platinum and palladium deposits with associated nickel, copper and gold. East West remained steady at 11 cents, whereas Golden Dragon jumped 7 cents to close at 18 cents.

TNR Resources dropped a nickel to close at 18 cents. Results from a 1,336-metre program of reverse-circulation drilling on its La Ortiga project in northwestern Argentina returned anomalous gold values.