STOCK MARKETS — Lac de Gras rumors refuel activity of

Diamond stocks proved to be the only bright lights in an otherwise gloomy and lethargic Toronto market during the week ended Aug. 11.

Fuelled by rumors of drilling and sampling on the BHP-Dia Met joint venture property in the Northwest Territories, investors pushed Aber Resources to $2.03 for a gain of 18 cents and SouthernEra Resources to $1.75 for a gain of 33 cents.

Reliable sources say BHP has drilled at least one other pipe that shows even better characteristics than the Point Lake pipe in terms of its size and the type and quantity of its indicator minerals.

A recent visit by some of De Beer’s top executives to Yellowknife has also encouraged rumors of a “discovery” by its Canadian arm, Monopros, in the Lac de Gras area. However, a Monopros spokesman told The Northern Miner that the company is still at the surface sampling stage of exploration and has not yet drilled a hole on its approximately four million acres of ground. Other advancing mining issues, particularly precious metal stocks, were tempered by weakening gold and platinum prices and a general downturn in the market late in the report period. Gold dropped today (Aug. 12) to US$346.80 as producers took advantage of recent price strength to sell their gold output forward. Platinum, reacting mainly to a plummeting stock market in Japan (a significant platinum consumer) fell to US$368.75 per oz., a decline of more than US$8.

The TSE 300 composite index remained almost unchanged on the week, but dropped 26.9 points today. Metal and minerals dropped 31 points to 3000 even. The gold and silver index climbed 78 points, before shedding 198 points to 4994 today.

After touching a new 52-week high of $35.63, American Barrick fell back to $34.63 for a gain of 75 cents. Lac Minerals fell 12 cents to $8.88 while Hemlo Gold Mines remained steady at $9.50

Placer Dome managed to maintain a gain of 25 cents to $13 after announcing record quarterly production of 505,000 oz. and a 30% increase in estimated preliminary reserves at the Pipeline project in Nevada.

Would-be gold miner Waddy Lake Resources also turned in a strong performance after affiliate Golden Rule Resources announced an agreement to buy the Jolu mine and mill in Saskatchewan from partners International Corona and International Mahogany for $786,000. Golden Rule, Waddy and other affiliates that own interests in eight gold deposits along the La Ronge greenstone belt hope to process their ore at Jolu.

Waddy touched a 52-week high of 38 cents on the announcement before dropping back to 32 cents for a gain of 13 cents over the week. Golden Rule shed 2 cents to 46 cents. International Mahogany, which also agreed in principle to option its Southern Cross property to Asarco, closed down 5 cents to 85 cents while Corona remained steady at $5.50.

Today, Freewest Resources lost 15 cents to $2, a drop of 35 cents from last week’s close. Hemlo has agreed to subscribe for one million shares of the junior at a price of $2.11 to increase its interest to 21.5%. The two companies, along with Teddy Bear Valley Mines, recently formed a joint venture to exploit the Lightning gold zone near Matheson, Ont. Geddes Resources succumbed to heavy trading during the week, plummeting 9 cents to 61 cents as nervous investors decided to bail out of the Windy Craggy copper mine project in British Columbia. Internal documents released by the B.C. government during the report period questioned the viability of the project, saying the Geddes mine proposal “seriously underestimates the potential for acid generation.”

NovaGold Resources edged up 2 cents to 31 cents cents after securing environmental permits for copper mining and processing at the Murray Brook mine in northern New Brunswick. Using a rapid heap leach method, NovaGold expects to produce four million lb. copper on an annual basis starting in September.

With an agreement to acquire the Astoria gold mine and surrounding properties in Quebec from Yorbeau Resources, Deak gained 3 cents to 30 cents. The company plans to mine Astoria at a rate of 35,000 oz. per year and process the ore at its Kerr mill in Virginiatown, Ont.