STOCK MARKETS — Rising gold price adds firmness to western

Western markets managed to gain ground during the report period ended Sept. 20, amid a rising gold price and a general lack of bad news.

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index added 8.65 points to close at 874.00 while the resource index gained 13.84 points to close at 1408.65. Who said tin can’t be sexy? Crew Natural Resources took top volume spot with more than 6.5 million shares changing hands after the company announced plans to acquire a tin mine in Cornwall, England. The issue hit a high of $1 on the news before closing up 24 cents at 90 cents.

Crew is acquiring the interest through a direct investment in the recent public offering of South Crofty coupled with a share exchange with company’s the controlling shareholders.

Northern Crown Mines gained 50 cents to close at $2.40 after releasing a resource estimate for its Guadalupe gold property northeast of Mazatlan, Mexico. Based on 65 drill holes in the Zapote zone, the company estimates the current drill-indicated resource at 5.7 million tons grading 0.044 oz. gold per ton. A new resource estimate for La Fortuna, a mine in Mexico’s Durango state, helped owner San Fernando Mining jump 35 cents to $4.45. The project’s drill-indicated resource is now estimated at 5.1 million tons grading 0.078 oz. gold, 1.1 oz. silver and 0.28% copper. Exploration on the property is expected to resume shortly with a program of infill, development and exploratory drilling.

Arequipa Resources recovered from some recent weakness, gaining 21 cents to close at $1.06. The company, along with its Peruvian partner, recently acquired two additional gold properties in northern Peru and is negotiating to acquire two others.

Additional drilling results from the Red Chris porphyry copper-gold project in northern British Columbia helped American Bullion Minerals add 72 cents to finish at $3.05. The drilling returned values of up to 0.72% copper and 0.02 oz. gold over 539 ft. Visual reports from recently pulled drill core are also helping the issue. American Bullion reports that Hole 94-106 intersected almost 1,000 ft. of “significant mineralization” which has the potential to contain higher copper and gold grades than previously encountered in drilling. Zappa Resources slipped 32 cents to $2.48 amid plans to begin drilling on its Ponce Enriquez gold project in southwest Ecuador. The drilling will test three large gold zones outlined by previous work on the property. Southern Copper called extraordinary shareholder meetings to vote on splitting the company into two listed companies: one to hold its copper assets, and one to hold its diamond assets. Shareholders will exchange five Southern Copper shares for three shares of Santa Catalina Mining (the copper vehicle) and two shares of South Atlantic Diamonds.

Trading in Argentina Gold picked up, pushing the issue to a new high of $6.25 before it settled at $5.75 for a $1 gain. The company recently completed the purchase of a 61% interest in an Argentine company with claims and prospects along the Argentine-Chilean border in the mining belt known as El Indio. Da Capo Resources added 25 cents at $3.75 after releasing a new resource estimate for the Amayapampa property in Bolivia. Da Capo holds an option to buy a 70% interest in the project which is now estimated to contain 4.7 million tons grading 0.082 oz. gold. The company is currently drilling on Amayapampa, as well as on the Capa Circa project in Bolivia. Da Capo can buy a 100% interest in Capa Circa and reports its first drill hole on the property returned 0.021 oz. gold over its entire 656-ft. length, bottoming in mineralization grading 0.044 oz. gold.