STOCK MARKETS — Dia Met hits $33 as diamond market shows its

After taking a dramatic slide in the wake of the Aber-Commonwealth-SouthernEra blooper, Dia Met Minerals found its feet again during the week ended Nov. 24.

Amid speculation that more news would be emerging from the Dia Met-BHP ground, “the flagship” of the diamond play touched a new high of $33.75 before settling at $32.25 for a gain of $5.75. Today, Nov. 25, it added another 75 cents to $33.

Although it now appears that Dia Met will hold on to its news until the second week of December, a TSE listing report containing a wealth of new information about the junior has hit the streets.

A previously unreported tidbit of information contained in the report is that the Point Lake kimberlite is estimated to host a resource of 80 million tons grading 63 carats per 100 tons to a depth of 720 ft.

Dia Met had plunged from $31 to as low as $22.25 after SouthernEra and partners announced that the “beautiful canary diamonds” recovered from their samples had actually come from the drill bit. Not knowing how far the players might fall, investors took their profits on Dia Met to cover debts built up buying the SouthernEra group, analyst John Kaiser at Pacific International suggests.

“The episode was a short sharp rap on the knuckles to remind us all that we are dealing with a highly speculative exploration play and we should continue to expect wide swings in share prices on good and bad news,” said John Hainey at Canaccord Capital.

Both Aber and SouthernEra recovered from the blunder, with Aber finishing the week up 6 cents at $2.35. SouthernEra shed a nickel to $3.35 in a range of $2.70-4.35. Today, the two partners lost 20 cents and 15 cents, respectively. As 10.3 million shares changed hands, fellow Lac de Gras explorer Pure Gold Resources added 7 cents to 23 cents. Pure Gold, which has a deal with Australian diamond miner Ashton Mining, touched a high of 28 cents during the report period.

A stagnant US$335-per-oz. bullion price did little to shore up gold stocks. Touching new 52-week lows during the report period were Echo Bay Mines, Falconbridge Gold and Hemlo Gold Mines. They finished the week down 12 cents, 5 cents and 37 cents to $5.88, $1.50 and $7.88, respectively. The, TSE gold and silver index lost 69 points.

But analysts responded favorably to news that former Pegasus Gold president John Willson had been appointed president of Placer Dome, saying Willson has earned his reputation as an astute manager. Placer Dome added 12 cents to $14 while Pegasus lost 88 cents to $16.25.

Among senior base metals, Cominco gained 13 cents to $17.38. Today, it added another 87 cents to $18.25. Inco finished the week up $1.25 to $26 after announcing staff cuts and plans to reopen the Garson nickel mine at Sudbury, Ont.

Disappointed investors dumped shares of Central Crude after the junior reported mediocre results from its Moss Lake gold property near Thunder Bay, Ont. The junior, which had climbed to 75 cents on speculation about the results, lost 22 cents to 45 cents.

News of a merger with Canada Tungsten Mining added value to Canamax Resources and Minerex Resources. But Canada Tungsten, which controls the world’s largest tungsten mine and two undeveloped deposits, shed 50 cents to $2. Canamax and Minerex both added 9 cents to close at 27 cents and 58 cents respectively.

VSM Exploration also got a bit of a lift after announcing that it will conduct a $26.3-million underground exploration program on its Grevet property in northwestern Quebec. Cambior, which will make an offer for all of VSM’s issued and outstanding shares by Dec. 4, lost 25 cents to $11.63. VSM tacked on 7 cents to 68 cents.

Despite making a production announcement, Sikaman Gold shed 2 cents to 12 cents. The junior says its Sol Wood mine in California is operating and is expected to produce 25,000 oz. gold by October, 1993, generating a cash flow of $4 million.

Unchanged at 8 cents, Timmins Nickel has reached an agreement to sell its Redstone nickel mine and surrounding claims to Black Hawk Mining for $150,000 plus a 2% net smelter royalty.

In connection with the deal, Sherritt Gordon has agreed to release Timmins Nickel’s debt. Black Hawk finished the week down 3 cents at 35 cents, while Sherritt lost 25 cents to $6.50. The TSE has issued Timmins Nickel a cease-trading order, effective today, for failure to make statutory filings.