STOCK MARKETS — Plenty of action among the juniors

A US$8.75 runup in the price of the yellow metal over the course of the report week pushed the senior gold equities higher once again.

Typical of the gold group were American Barrick, up $1.50 to just over $37, and Placer Dome up a strong $3 to $33.50.

TVX Gold, an aggressive performer over recent weeks, plans to raise $201 million. With that sum in a war chest, the analysts who have been touting the stock as a growth candidate might be right.

Beyond the seniors, there was plenty of action. For example, Cathedral Gold has run up impressively of late, climbing from a low of 95 cents in August to $3 by Dec. 14, the end of our report period. It has acquired ground near the Battle Mountain-Eureka find by Homestake in Nevada. Soon after the news of the find was reported, Homestake’s shares rose to 52-week highs at $22. Hycroft showed signs of uncommon strength as well, rising to $4.60, a one-week gain of $1.15. It was trading at the $3 mark in early December. Hycroft, a subsidiary of Granges (up 20 cents to $3.60), operates the Crofoot-Lewis mine in northwestern Nevada. But the share price rise likely comes from exploration news on the adjoining Brimstone property. Recent work increased the tonnage while lowering the grade. But it seems crushing may not be necessary, which would certainly reduce costs.

Hycroft reports 47 million tons of “mineralization” grading 0.017 oz. of gold per ton. A proven reserve should be in hand by January. By comparison, the Crofoot-Lewis mine holds a reserve of 45 million tons at 0.021 oz. Granges has been strong too, up 20 cents to $3.60 at the end of our report week.

The share price of RFC Resource Finance, a Metall Mining subsidiary, has been strong. This past week, it gained another 27 cents to close at $1.42. RFC holds the Pend Oreille property in Washington state. The geological “resource” is 3.8 million tons averaging 10.7% zinc and 1.8% lead. RFC is producing a feasibility study. It should be ready by January, the company tells us. With zinc prices improving of late, it may be that investors are positioning themselves in advance of a positive feasibility. Kinross Gold and Falconbridge Gold have been rising — Kinross to $3.35 after touching a new high of $3.50, Falconbridge to $4.10. Regular readers of The Northern Miner will recall that Kinross this year bought the old Falconbridge stake in Falco Gold. In the works, it was reported, is a merger between Kinross and Falco Gold.

The rising price of gold and several favorable reports, by analysts, on Kinross are likely affecting stock prices.

It seems Central Crude’s parent company, Hemlo Gold, no longer has any use for its subsidiary. (The parent is selling its 48% stake in Central Crude and its 60% interest in the Eagle River project.) But ever since the announcement, about three weeks ago, Central Crude has moved up in price. It recently hit a 52-week high of $1.35 and closed the report week at $1.20, up 25 cents.

Eagle River reserves stand at 1.3 million tonnes grading 8 grams per tonne. Altai Resources, in the midst of commissioning a feasibility study on its Tassawini gold project in Guyana, has seen its shares hit a 52-week high of $2.88 before backing off to close at $2.45. After drilling 120 holes, Altai reports a “drill-indicated” inventory of 2 million tons averaging 2.2 grams of gold per ton. This is an oxidized zone below which sits a gold-bearing sulphide zone.

Menora Resources holds half of the property. It too hit a 52-week high before settling at 52 cents, a 7 cents gain.

Aur Resources gained 63 cents to close at $5.75. With the slight improvement in base metals prices and the big Louvicourt base metals property soon to swing into production, investors may finally have taken a shine to Aur. Half a million shares changed hands this past week.

Diamond explorer, Aber has climbed lately. It rose 70 cents to close at $3.10. Aber and Commonwealth Gold are amalgamating.