STOCK MARKETS — Gold holds its own despite markets’ slump

Three factors — rising interest rates, a falling Canadian dollar and continuing uncertainty over the prospect of Quebec separating from the rest of the country — all combined to give western players a reason to be cautious.

That cautiousness translated into continued weakness on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, with the composite index posting a 15-point drop to 1,020.67 and the resource index falling more than 10 points to close at 1,665.03. Gold managed to hold its own over the week ended June 14, trading sideways at the US$384-per-oz. level.

Shareholders of Rio Amarillo got a rude surprise when the company released significantly lower-than-expected assay results from the Candelaria prospect in Peru.

Rio Amarillo released results from Hole K-8 (including 116 metres grading 1.4% copper) at the end of April, holding the results from other holes while check assaying was done.

The check assays did not substantially change the original results, with assays from the secondary enriched copper zone ranging between 0.15% and 0.48% in all the holes except K-8.

The news hammered the stock down $1.11 to $1.05 and the company reports it is now re-evaluating its option on the Candelaria.

Goldnev Resources managed to add 44 cents to close at $2.28 after announcing plans to acquire a share position in Silverstone Resources.

Goldnev arranged a $5-million brokered private placement to fund the purchases.

The company agreed to buy a 3.6-million-unit private placement of Silverstone at 82.4 cents per unit and will buy up to 2.2 million shares from Prime Equities International. Silverstone plans to use the funds from the private placement to fund its share of costs on the Esperanza concession in Panama. Silverstone added 6 cents to close at $1.

Trading in New Canamin Resources picked up, boosting the issue 43 cents to $2.28.

Infill drilling on the company’s Huckleberry property near Kemano, B.C., returned a 787-ft. intersection grading 0.83% copper, including 147 ft. grading more than 2% copper.

Argosy Mining jumped 23 cents to 71 cents after announcing the discovery of 13 new kimberlite pipes on its diamond interests in Zimbabwe. Argosy can earn up to a 40% interest in several diamond prospects in Zimbabwe and Tanzania from Reunion Mining, a 32%-owned affiliate of Toronto-listed Caledonia Mining.

Plans to acquire the private company that owns the Blackdome mine in British Columbia helped Claimstaker Resources add a nickel to close at 75 cents. Eurus Resource is still looking for a bottom, trading as low as 39 cents before closing down 4 cents at 40 cents. Some shareholders are apparently not happy about the transfer of the company’s interest in the Albino gold property in Venezuela back to Crystallex International.

The two companies have common directors, officers and administrators. Crystallex closed unchanged at $4.50.

Plans to begin an exploration program along the strike extent of the San Rafael zone of its San Martin mine in Costa Rica did not help Ariel Resources. The issue closed off 12 cents at $1.68.

San Rafael contains an estimated resource (minable by open-pit methods) of 4.3 million tons grading 0.064 oz. gold per ton and Ariel hopes to boost the total to more than 10 million tons.

Drilling plans for its Guadalupe de los Reyes epithermal gold property in Mexico were also little help to Northern Crown Mines.

The issue lost 30 cents to close at $1.65.