STOCK MARKETS — Voisey Bay, diamonds fail to spark western markets

Western markets took a breather from the rash of speculation concerning the Voisey Bay area of Labrador and diamonds in the Northwest Territories during the report period ended May 9.

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index slipped 14.92 points to close at 791.03, while the resource index fell 32.59 points to finish at 1,298.53.

Unable to strike a satisfactory deal with the British Columbia provincial government, Toronto-listed Royal Oak Mines and Geddes Resources withdrew their respective bids for the Kemess South gold-copper project in north-central British Columbia. El Condor, which owns a 60% interest of Kemess South, dropped to $3.85, which represents a loss of $1.10. The remaining 40% is held by Toronto-listed St. Philips Resources.

A due diligence review by United Kingdom-based Robertson Research Minerals, to be released shortly, was completed on the Aprelevka project of Gulf International Minerals. Aprelevka is in the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan and, under a joint venture with state-owned Tajik Gold, Gulf holds a 49% interest. A study by Gulf indicates Aprelevka contains a potentially open-pit resource of 2 million tonnes grading 6.2 grams gold per tonne. Gulf closed at 85 cents, up 10 cents.

Preliminary exploration by Toronto-listed Noranda on the San Isidro property is warranting a second phase of drilling, Aquiline Resources reports. The work, which consists of a 4-hole, 1,000-metre diamond drilling program as well as geophysical and geochemical surveys, is concentrating on an area measuring 1,000 metres in length and 500 metres in width. Results from the initial drilling are reported to confirm Aquiline’s previous data. Aquiline estimates the property hosts upwards of 20 to 70 million tonnes grading 0.65-1.15% leachable copper. Meanwhile, soil geochemistry over La Joya and La Vista properties has defined mineralized zones of stratiform copper, assaying 2-4%, over a distance of 2.5 km. Mapping and sampling are continuing in an effort to define drill targets. Noranda can earn up to a 75% interest in these Mexican properties from Aquiline by meeting certain exploration and payment obligations. Aquiline closed up 42 cents at $1.72.

Pacific Falkon Resources, meanwhile, is up 28 cents to $1.13. The company received final prospectus receipts from both the Ontario and British Columbia Securities Commissions. This amounts to $2.3 million, raised in a special warrants financing, to be used to conduct exploration work at the Guinaoang copper-gold deposit on the Philippine island of Luzon. The company placed 1.2 million special warrants at $1.90 each. The special warrants are exchangeable into one common share and one warrant at no additional cost. The holder of two warrants can elect to buy one common share at $2.15 by Jan. 11, 1996. A 9-hole, 9,900-metre drill program is planned to test the deposit which contains an estimated resource of 500 million tonnes grading 0.37% copper and 0.37 gram gold. Pacific Falkon is earning a 40% interest from a Philippine-based firm and holds an option to acquire an additional 30%.

An exploration program carried out by Gerle Gold under the supervision of Monopros, an exploration subsidiary of De Beers, has failed to intersect any kimberlite in eight targets drilled to date on the Slave Diamond Syndicate’s ground in the Northwest Territories. Thirteen targets remain to be drilled and a further 95 targets are being evaluated. Monopros can earn a 60% interest by spending $7 million over a 3-year period. The Slave Diamond Syndicate consists of Gerle Gold, which holds a 40% interest, and three other companies Norcal Resources, Tenajon Resources and Toronto-listed Westley Technologies each of which holds 20%. Gerle slipped 4 cents to 60 cents, Norcal dropped 8 cents to close at 35 cents and Tenajon lost 8 cents to finish at 45 cents.