MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — WESTERN MARKETS — Western markets still spooked by Asia’s economic woes — International Taurus, Sur American among few to buck downward trend

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index took a nosedive during the report period ended Aug. 11, dropping 21.87 points, or 4.6%, to finish at 456.49. The mining index followed suit, plummeting 20.31 points, or 6%, to close at 318.49.

Meanwhile, the combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange lost 68.5 cents, or 3.5%, to close the week at 1,912.21.

International Taurus Resources climbed a dime to finish at 35 cents. The junior plans to form a joint venture with American Copper to explore and develop the Lyon copper-gold-magnetite project in Yerington, Nev. American Copper can earn a 60% interest and become project operator by completing all work commitments and making cash payments to Cyprus Metals Exploration, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cyprus Amax Minerals. American Copper lost a dime to close at $3.80.

Alberta-listed Sur American Gold picked up 8 cents to close at 45 cents. Local authorities in Colombia have given the OK to diamond drilling at the company’s wholly owned Gavia epithermal gold project, near Riosucio Caldas. Sur American is wasting no time in drawing up a drilling contract.

Polymet Mining gained 7 cents to close at $1.18. The company is pursuing metallurgical studies on the low-grade Dunka Road polymetallic deposit in Minnesota. Priorities include testing bio-leach and pressure oxidation techniques aimed at boosting recovery rates for the metallurgically complex deposit.

Bell Coast Capital saw its issue rise 3 cents to finish at 58 cents. The market is anticipating a drilling update on the company’s Copalquin gold-silver property in Durango, Mexico.

Hymex Diamond dropped 14 cents and closed at 30 cents. The company issued a non-brokered private placement of 20 million shares at 30 cents each.

Borneo Gold continued to slide, losing 8 cents to finish at 19 cents. Exploration work on the Bunut property in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, returned poor results, and the company has since focused its attention on the southern portion of the exploration grid. Magnetic and geochemical data suggest the new area may represent a different phase of the volcanic intrusive complex and that this could be the source of gold mineralization. The company will drill the remaining 2,000 metres of its 5,500-metre drill program on this new target.

Donner Minerals and its partners at South Voisey’s Bay, Cypress Minerals and Alberta-listed Northern Abitibi Mining, continue to linger on the VSE’s most active list. Drilling at the project has been halted for three weeks while geological and geophysical surveys are carried out. Donner has negotiated a brokered private placement with Union Securities for $900,000. The funds will be raised by issuing 3 million units at 30 cents each. Northern Abitibi lost 4 cents to finish the week at 17 cents, and Cypress Minerals lost 2 cents to close at 14 cents.

Energold Minerals lost 10 cents to finish at 30 cents. New results from surface work on the Longyear concession in the Dominican Republic are seen as encouraging. Samples of oxidized to saprolitic rock have been collected from a series of pits excavated thoughout the Main zone. The average grade of 165 samples taken from pits, outcrop and float from within a 300-by-700-metre zone is 1.22 grams gold per tonne.