STOCK MARKETS — Dia Met hits new high of $62 on bulk-sample

Speculation over upcoming bulk-sample results from the Lac de Gras area of the Northwest Territories sent Dia Met Minerals to a high of $62 for a gain of $9.13 during the week ended May 25.

Waiting anxiously on the sidelines were the area’s other players, whose ability to raise exploration funds in the future may well depend on Dia Met’s success.

If the results from at least two additional pipes prove better than Dia Met’s Point Lake numbers (released this time last year), the area play will enjoy strong speculative activity this summer, says John Kaiser at Pacific International Securities.

“What investors can expect, and will want to see, are numbers that are better than the Point Lake pipe. And, most importantly, they will want to see a decision by Dia Met and BHP to proceed with a pre-feasibility study in the form of a 5,000-10,000-ton bulk sample,” he says.

On the other hand, if the release proves disappointing, it could stifle the play, at least in the short term.

Investors in Toronto Stock Exchange-listed companies that hold ground near Lac de Gras seem prepared to wait it out. Both Aber Resources and SouthernEra Resources moved only slightly on relatively light trading during our report period. Aber lost 5 cents to $4.10, while SouthernEra picked up 38 cents to $7.38.

Believing it could be sitting on a completely separate kimberlite field west of Lac de Gras, Pure Gold Resources gained 3 cents to 70 cents on a volume of 1.6 million. Investors seem to be shrugging off a lawsuit recently brought against the company by VSE-listed Loumic Resources. Loumic claims to have interests in four of Pure Gold’s diamond properties, including the prized Humpy Lake bet.

Back in Toronto, speculation over Scintilore Exploration’s lawsuit against two prospectors who staked the sites of the David Bell and Golden Giant mines pushed the junior to a new 52-week high. Trading more than 1.9 million shares, Scintilore soared to $2.65 before closing at $2.10 for a gain of $1.06. It lost 35 cents today (May 26).

Scintilore recently raised $1.05 million through a private placement of shares and warrants.

Plans for production at the Lac des Iles deposit in northwestern Ontario, and a strong platinum price (US$390 per oz.), continued to drive the shares of Madeleine Mines. The junior added 88 cents to $5.75 in a 52-week range of $1.50-$5.88.

Managers at Curragh are breathing a sigh of relief after the ailing lead-zinc producer secured a $50-million equity financing from two Korean companies. But Curragh is not out of the woods yet. Several conditions are attached to the agreement, including the Yukon government’s approval of a $29-million loan for development of the Grum deposit at Faro.

Curragh tacked on 27 cents to finish the week at 67 cents and added another 10 cents today.

Adding 54 cents to $2.94, Arimetco International (TSE) says it plans to acquire the remaining half of the McArthur copper property in Nevada, where minable reserves stand at 40 million tons grading 0.22% copper. Picking up 22 cents to $2.42, Greenstone Resources has bought full ownership of Panama-based Minas Santa Rosa, which owns two adjacent gold properties with total minable reserves of 7.9 million tons grading 0.049 oz. gold per ton.

Having arranged a special warrant issue of 1.5 million warrants at $4 per warrant, Chase Resource jumped 40 cents to $4.60. Chase has a bulk-tonnage, low-grade copper-gold prospect in the Philippines.

Although the gold price remained steady at about US$375 per oz. during our report period, many of the senior gold mining stocks were off slightly. Trading 4.5 million shares, Placer Dome lost $1.13 to $22.50 and another 63 cents today. The Canadian Bond Rating Service has assigned an A (low) rating to Placer’s $20-million bond issue.

Both Plexus Resources and ME-listed CMP Resources gained ground after Plexus shareholders agreed to a merger between the two companies. CMP added 10 cents to $2.45 while Plexus added 6 cents to $2.30.