STOCK MARKETS — Investors pair back positions in Voisey Bay stocks (September 04, 1995)

Winter may be settling in early for some Voisey Bay issues, judging by continued slippage in share prices.

The Vancouver Stock Exchange resource index slipped 4.12 points to close the report period ended Aug. 29 at the 1,292 level. The composite index fared better, edging up 3.77 points to 839.53.

Joint-venture partners Tapestry Ventures and Portman Explorations bucked the downtrend, closing up 35 cents at $1.60 and 22 cents at $1.20, respectively. The companies have initiated a 6-hole drill program on their Anak-1 property, 20 km northwest of Diamond Fields’ discovery in the Voisey Bay region of Labrador.

The drilling will test two geophysical targets, as well as a mineralized gossan zone with a strike length in excess of 1 km.

Consolidated Magna Ventures and Consolidated Viscount Resources both gained ground in anticipation of drilling on their Tasisuak Lake property in Labrador. The Newfoundland government issued a drill permit for up to 40 holes for the project.

Consolidated Magna added 30 cents at $1.42, while Consolidated Viscount jumped 75 cents to $5.50.

Partners Goldnev Resources and Starcore Resources edged down after releasing additional results from drilling on the Niatak Island property, 40 km east of the Diamond Fields discovery.

Hole NI95-05 returned values of up to 0.63% copper, 0.27% nickel and 0.09% cobalt over 0.85 metre, while Hole 06 was stopped short of the target zone as a result of drilling problems.

Goldnev slipped 2 cents to $1.08, while Starcore dipped 7 cents to finish at 45 cents.

Further drilling is planned, and the companies report the discovery of a new mineralized zone to the south with grades of up to 0.76% copper, 0.64% nickel and 0.147% cobalt.

Additional massive sulphide intersections on the Wolverine property in the south-central Yukon were not much help to Atna Resources, which lost a dime to close at 95 cents.

Westmin Resources is earning a 60% interest in the property, and reports that drilling is expanding the size of the zone around discovery hole WV-95-1, which was previously reported to have intersected 3.9 metres grading 10.2% zinc, 0.3% copper and 0.49% lead, as well as 59.6 grams silver and 0.34 gram gold per tonne.

Assays from the additional drilling are pending.

Plans to acquire 42,500 hectares of gold and copper prospects in Argentina helped American Comstock Exploration add 15 cents to close at 65 cents.

Phrygian Mining touched a new high of $1.74 before finishing up 47 cents at $1.65. Croesus, a New York-based global emerging market fund, plans to acquire a control position in Phrygian from the company’s controlling shareholder.

Phrygian holds an option to acquire gold concessions in Kyrgyzstan, where a resource has been estimated at 15.9 million tonnes grading 4.87 grams gold per tonne, as well as diamond and gold assets in West Africa and two gold properties in British Columbia.

Copperstone Resources and Island-Arc Resources both gained ground, with the former up 23 cents at $1.50 and the latter having risen 19 cents to 94 cents.

Copperstone is earning an 80% interest in a large, sediment-hosted copper-cobalt project in Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Additional assay results from drilling on the Brandywine property in British Columbia were not much help to La Rock Mining, which lost 15 cents to close at 35 cents. The most recent hole, DP-95-21, intersected four contiguous, 1.5-metre intervals grading 5.5, 7.9, 60.7 and 4.3 grams gold, respectively.

Delgratia Mining continued to lose ground, having finished down 50 cents at $4, for a loss of more than $7 from its June peak of $11.63. A plunge in the price of Arakis Energy, which shares the same president as Delgratia, has not likely helped the issue.