STOCK MARKETS — Murgor only bright spot in lacklustre

Players continue to shy away from the ailing Vancouver Stock Exchange. The composite index closed down 4.03 points at 694.76, while the resource index finished up 2.84 points at 1,108.20 for the report period ended Feb. 28.

Murgor Resources continued to be the dominant play of the market as more than 4.7 million shares changed hands. The issue hit a high of $3.20 earlier in the report period before falling 95 cents to close down at $1.88. Assay results for the first hole drilled on the company’s Barry Twp. gold property in northwestern Quebec were released. Hole 95-1, drilled at a 45 angle, intersected 38.2 ft. of 0.1 oz. gold per ton between a core depth of 46.1 and 84.3 ft. Murgor is drill-testing the downdip and strike extensions of a gold-bearing shear zone where surface trenching across the zone returned values of 0.33 oz. over 31.4 ft., 0.42 oz. over 5.25 ft., and 0.21 oz. over 19.1 ft. Four holes have been drilled to date, with a fifth under way. A geophysics program is also in progress.

A joint-venture agreement concerning the VBE-1 and VBE-2 claim blocks of International CanAlaska Resources in the Voisey Bay area of Labrador, adjacent to Diamond Fields’ massive base metal discovery, was met by an 18 cents jump to close at 55 cents. Under the agreement, Columbia Yukon Resources can earn an initial half interest by spending $900,000 on exploration and paying $100,000 over three years. Options to earn up to an additional 20% interest require a further cash payment of $500,000 and the completion of a bankable feasibility study and project financing. Columbia Yukon is seeking re-listing on the Alberta Stock Exchange. The first phase of an exploration program is expected to get under way very shortly with an airborne geophysical program, followed by a ground magnetometer survey, mapping, prospecting and stream sediment sampling.

Yanks Peak Resources finished up 6 cents at 18 cents on trading of more than 1.7 million shares. The company agreed to buy a full interest in a block of 64 claims in the Voisey Bay area for a price of $30,000 and 100,000 free-trading shares. The claims are about 8 km from Diamond Fields’ claims boundary.

In Panama, a 6-hole drill program, designed to expand a zone of copper mineralization, is nearing completion on the Chorcha concession. Arlo Resources can earn a half interest in the property, as well as 10 other concessions in the country, by making payments to the owners and fulfilling work obligations. Last year, drilling returned up to 133 metres of 0.88% copper. Several holes in this year’s drill program are highly mineralized, and assays are pending for the first. In mid-March, Arlo hopes to begin a 5-hole, 1,250-metre drill program on the Rio Liri gold concession. The issue closed up 25 cents at $1.25.

Dropping to a low of $12, Sutton Resources managed to pull out of the tailspin by issuing a current overview of each of its exploration projects. In response, the issue added 75 cents to close at $17.63. Management is of the view that there is no relationship between the volatile market activity and the significant developments being seen at the company’s exploration projects.

In Venezuela, drilling will soon begin on the Botanamo property of Bard Silver and Gold. A soil geochemical survey, followed by airborne geophysics, identified the Nuevo Callao — a gold-bearing regional linear structure extending for 8 km. Trenching at various locations along the zone returned 6.85 grams gold per tonne over 20 metres; 5.8 grams over 63 metres; 2.68 grams over 16.2 metres; 4.24 grams over 8.7 metres; and 4.88 grams over 5.9 metres. The company holds an option to acquire a 56.7% interest in the Venezuelan company that owns the concession. Bard closed at 42 cents, up 5 cents.