STOCK MARKETS — Metal prices in decline, Dia Met trades on

Gold stocks were unable to maintain their post-election rally during the week ended Nov. 10 as bullion slid to a 6-year low of US$330.25 per oz. in New York.

Having recently touched a new 52-week high of $15.25, Placer Dome was off $1.25 to $13.75 while Lac Minerals shed $1 to $7.50 on more than 2.2 million shares. American Barrick Resources finished the week at $36 for a loss of $2. A strong U.S. dollar, high real interest rates in Europe and deflationary forces worldwide have been working against gold this year. Now gold analysts have added weak jewelry demand to their list of worries.

Base metal prices also continued their downhill slide. Nickel, which traded at US$3.15 per lb. as recently as mid-September, lost 13 cents to US$2.53. Copper fell below US$1 per lb., finishing the week at 96 cents for a loss of 6 cents. Zinc lost 2 cents to 47 cents per lb.

Analysts say weak demand for metals in Europe and Japan is creating a glut on the London Metal Exchange. Production cutbacks by some of the world’s largest producers are “too little, too late,” they say.

Reflecting the metal price setback, The Toronto Stock Exchange’s gold and silver index gave up 411 points during the report period, while the metals and minerals index lost 84 points.

Since the Canadian economy depends heavily on the resource sector, plunging commodity prices are also partially to blame for the Canadian dollar’s dive to a new 5-year low of US78.98 cents, observers say.

Losing base metal issues included Brunswick Mining and Smelting, down $1.13 to $8.63, Cominco, down 50 cents to $19.88, and Noranda, down $1 to $18.38. One of the most active stocks, Teck B shares finished the week down $2 to $17.75 on a volume of 4.5 million. To partially cover the cost of purchasing a controlling interest in Minnova, Metall Mining will sell five million Teck B shares for proceeds of $93.8 million.

Metall picked up 13 cents to close at $13.13. Minnova, which has launched a $4.2-million feasibility study on its Troilus (Frotet) gold deposit north of Chibougamau, Que., shed 25 cents to $16.

Kerr Addison Mines, down $1.12 to $16.38, is Minnova’s joint venture partner at Troilus, which contains probable reserves of 40 million tonnes averaging 1.4 grams gold per tonne and 0.12% copper.

One of a handful of mining stocks to be listed on the TSE in recent years, Dia Met Minerals started trading in Toronto on Nov. 9. The stock touched a new high of $26 before slipping back to close at $24.

Rumor has it that Dia Met is planning a stock split, a rarity in today’s depressed markets. The 3-for-1 split would enhance the affordability of Dia Met shares and make it easier for the company to raise equity financing in the future.

In other diamond-related developments, two drill rigs are on their way to Sudbury Contact Mines’ properties near Kirkland Lake, Ont. Sudbury was 90 cents bid, $1.05 ask on Nov. 10. Nearby, CDN-listed Regal Goldfields — in partnership with ME-listed KWG Resources and ASE-listed Goldhunter Exploration — will launch bulk-sampling programs on its diamond-bearing A-4 and C-14 pipes.

Regal was $1.85 bid, $2.10 ask on Nov. 10. KWG was unchanged at $3.20. Still trading heavily, Lac de Gras diamond explorer Lytton Minerals tacked on another 24 cents to 90 cents.

Down 1 cents to 7 cents, Joutel Resources reports that a third-phase drilling program is scheduled to get under way soon on the Joutel copper property in northern Quebec. Aur Resources, down 25 cents to $2.85, is earning a 70% interest in the project through cash payments of $130,000 and exploration expenditures of $2 million by May, 1997.

Recently listed on the Montreal Exchange, Tiomin Resources traded 1.23 million shares, closing the week at $1.35 for a gain of 15 cents. The company has raised more than $2.3 million through a private placement of European investors, to explore the Natashquan heavy minerals deposit in Quebec’s North Shore area.

The value of shares traded on the ME in October was $1.66 billion, down 10.6% from the previous month.