STOCK MARKETS — Markets stay the course despite drop in gold

Although the stock markets have been on a slide for the past month or so, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange is still well ahead of last year. For example, the TSE’s average daily value of $808.1 million traded during the first five months of this year is nearly double the $494.3 million average of the corresponding period a year ago.

Last month, however, there was a bit of a letup. The dollar value of trading on the TSE in May reached $12.1 billion, a decrease of 14.3% from the previous month’s total.

Gold bullion prices, meanwhile, dropped US$5.35 per oz. over the report week to close at US$381.90 (June 8). American Barrick shed $2.13 to close at $32.13; Placer Dome lost $1.63 closing at $30.25; Lac lost 75 cents to close at $11.88; Echo Bay was off $1.13 to $14.75; Agnico Eagle was down 13 cents to $15.88; Franco Nevada lost $2.75 to close at $76.50; and Euro Nevada lost $1.63 to close at $37.50.

There was little to report in the way of news for the major gold equities. But word is out that Lac and Tintina Resources are working out an arrangement on their huge land holding in the Ft. MacKay area of northeastern Alberta. The pair might even float a publicly traded company focused solely on the Alberta play. Tintina closed down 20 cents on the week at $2.45. The Geological Survey of Canada, meanwhile, is jumping into the fray with both feet. As our front-page story explains, its chief scientist in Ottawa says the vaunted GSC will become actively involved in sorting the wheat from the chaff, analytically speaking.

At Metall Mining, nobody is saying anything publicly about its German parent’s plan for a selloff, but news reports out of London say that, “behind the scenes,” Metallgesellschaft AG is preparing a public offer. (The parent ran into financial trouble after its U.S. unit lost heavily in oil futures. It has since been searching for sources of cash. Metall, with an estimated selloff value of about $500 million, is one such source.)

Metall’s stock price wavered little this week from its $12.38 closing level. Diversification seems to be the byword at Saskatchewan’s world-beating uranium producer Cameco. Already involved in one gold project in central Asia and developing another at home, it recently inked a deal on yet another — a huge, half-million-ounce-per-year gold mine in Kyrgyzstan. On the uranium front, Cameco learned that U.S. producers are trying to block a U.S. government plan that would boost Russian uranium imports at the expense of Cameco and others.

When the U.S.-Russia deal first came to light several months ago, it was thought the U.S. producers were on-side. Not so, apparently. Some are and some are not. Those in opposition have launched a lawsuit to stop the plan. Cameco was off 75 cents to $23.50.

United Reef is worried that its unregistered U.S. shareholders did not receive the company’s 1993 annual report or proxy material. It seems the transfer agent overlooked this group of shareholders. United Reef has asked that investment advisors or securities dealers holding company shares for clients be made aware of a special mailing of the material during the week of June 13. The company has a diamond project in the Central African Republic. United Reef fell a nickel to 50 cents.

Venezuela has been an exploration hot spot for the past couple of years. However, the actual production of gold has been scant. Now, Monarch Resources, soon to be listed on the TSE, is in the midst of starting up a mine in Venezuela, an 81,000-oz.-per-year producer. The main players behind the company are former Consolidated Goldfields people. It is now in the middle of a $33.4-million, Canada-only share offering (closing June 16). The shares of International Platinum, which were halted more than a week ago after IPC found it had difficulty putting a value on its Arizona property (for financial reporting purposes), remain halted. According to the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), as of June 8, IPC had still not filed. Caribgold jumped 85 cents to $4.40 after releasing Cuban drill results that identified what the company calls “a major gold-bearing vein system.”