STOCK MARKETS — Camsell Lake kimberlite prompts buying

A selloff on major eastern markets, coupled with gold’s failure to move through the US$400-per-oz. level, provided little incentive for buyers on western markets.

Both the Vancouver Stock Exchange resource and composite indices remained little-changed over the report period ended Oct. 4, finishing at 868.67 and 1,429, respectively.

The intersection of kimberlite in the first hole of a drilling program at the Camsell Lake property in the Northwest Territories prompted a buying spree in the joint-venture participants. Winspear Resources touched a new high of $1.75 before closing up 13 cents at $1.53, while Consolidated Newgate Resources added 16 cents on more than 1.6 million shares to close at 41 cents and Amarado Resources jumped 14 cents to 86 cents. Toronto-listed Aber Resources also holds an interest.

Brisk trading in Southern Copper helped push the issue to a high of $1.05 before it settled at 87 cents, up 15 cents on more than 1.4 million shares. The company is working to secure financing to double the capacity of its Oracle Ridge underground copper mine in Arizona, and it recently discovered microdiamonds in a kimberlite intrusion on its Coromandel project in Brazil. Crew Natural Resources continued to gain ground, adding 11 cents to close at $1.05 on more than 1.7 million shares. The company is acquiring an interest in a tin mine in Cornwall, England.

Joint-venture partners Pacific Vangold Mines and International Silver Ridge Resources both gained ground after signing a milling agreement with Echo Bay Mines. Pacific Vangold added 26 cents to close at $1.63 while Silver Ridge tacked on 14 cents, finishing at $1.04.

The joint venture plans to truck ore from its Iron Colt project near Rossland, B.C., down to Echo Bay’s Kettle River mill in northeastern Washington. About 500 tons grading an estimated 1.5 oz. gold per ton are stockpiled on surface at Iron Colt and the joint venture is working to outline a minable block of ore.

Reports of an intersection of a 100-ft.-wide, sericite-carbonate-rich shear zone on the first hole at the Broker’s Fee property in the Kirkland Lake area of northeastern Ontario gave a boost to Kalahari Resources. The issue closed up 15 cents at 95 cents.

The acquisition of an interest in additional ground in Zimbabwe, in partnership with Reunion Mining, helped Argosy Mining close 20 cents higher at $1.89. The companies announced the discovery of nine new kimberlite pipes on their property holdings, bringing the total number to 29. International Taurus Resources and Hera Resources released preliminary results from a wide gold intersection on their joint-venture project near Cassiar, B.C. The intersection included an 85-ft. interval grading 0.16 oz. gold within a stockwork zone and the companies plan further drilling to test the bulk-minable potential of the mineralization. International Taurus gained 32 cents to finish at $1.32, while Hera backtracked 20 cents to finish at $1.90.

Joint-venture partners El Condor Resources (60%) and St. Philips Resources (40%), which are working the South Kemess copper-gold project in British Columbia, both gained ground. The former traded up 75 cents at $6.38, while the latter followed suit for a 29 cents gain at $2.79. The companies are looking to sell the property, which hosts a minable reserve of 220.9 million tons grading 0.018 oz. gold and 0.22% copper.

Market attention remains turned away from the DHK-Kennecott joint venture in the Territories. No further news on the joint venture is expected from Kennecott until November. Members of the DHK group are all trading near year-lows, with Kettle River Resources finishing at the $1.17 level, Dentonia Resources at 52 cents and Alberta-listed Horseshoe Gold Mining at 57 cents. Dunlap Resources has completed an initial public offering, raising $450,000. The company recently began drilling on the Century gold property in Idaho, where it is earning a 60% interest from Cactus West Explorations. Dunlap finished at 65 cents, up 20 cents from its 45 cents offer price, while Cactus finished unchanged at 38 cents.