Palladium shoots past US$1,000-per-oz. mark

Palladium was the bright light among the precious metals during the Jan. 3-9 report period, at last cracking the US$1,000-per-oz. barrier to reach a record high of US$1,047 per oz. Prices for palladium rose US$72 on the week as — yet again — concerns grew over the reliability of Russian palladium and platinum deliveries.

The purest Canadian palladium play, North American Palladium, soared $1.80 to a record high of $15.80 and was trading at $17.05 at presstime. The company is also celebrating its inclusion, in mid-December, in the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 index.

Gold prices were more subdued, falling US$2.30 to US$266.70 per oz. on the London morning fix of Jan. 10 and dragging down Canada’s gold majors: Barrick Gold fell $2.04 to $23.52; Placer Dome slipped $1.30 to $13.50; Franco-Nevada Mining sagged 95 to $16.70; and Kinross Gold dropped a penny to 83 as it announced a program allowing shareholders to sell or buy shares without brokerage commissions in order to round out to a board lot.

Canada’s base metal producers mostly failed to respond to higher nickel, copper and zinc prices: Noranda rose 20 to $15.15; Falconbridge shed 95 to $16.00; Teck‘s B shares fell 25 to $13.05; Cominco dropped 25 to $23.25; Boliden was off 8 to $1.02; and Breakwater Resources slipped 8 to hit $1.35.

Inco sunk $1.77 to $22.89 after a ship containing 2,200 tonnes of nickel matte from PT Inco’s operations in Indonesia sank off the coast of Japan, claiming nine lives. The insured cargo, which represents 3.3% of PT Inco’s annual output, was valued at US$13 million, though Inco is unsure if it can be salvaged.

Among the juniors, TVI Pacific edged ahead a penny to 5 on light trading. The company announced that the Rapu Rapu polymetallic project in the Philippines, in which it holds a 2.5% net smelter return, passed an independent feasibility study commissioned by operator Lafayette Mining of Australia. Lafayette, which has an 88% stake in the project, is seeking government approval and financing to advance the project to production, which it expects will begin in 2002.

While operating in the Luderitz Bay marine-diamond grant, off the coast of Namibia, Namibian Minerals‘ NamSSol seabed crawler lost its undercarriage as it was being hoisted to the deck of a support vessel. However, the lost production is partly offset by the recent commissioning of Nam 2, which can mine at twice the rate of its predecessor. Despite suffering the production setback, Namibian advanced 3 to $3.

SouthernEra Resources surprised the market by announcing it had applied for permits to begin construction of the Camafuca diamond mine in Angola. According to a feasibility study, the project hosts 23.24 million carats — worth an in situ value of about US$2.5 billion. SouthernEra, which holds a 32% interest in that resource, rose 24 on the news to $2.13.