STOCK MARKETS — Voisey Bay play boosts trading volume on VSE

Growing interest in Labrador’s Voisey Bay nickel discovery is responsible for the Vancouver Stock Exchange hitting a 2-year record for the volume of shares traded in the month of May. A total of 598 million shares traded hands, the value of which is estimated at $693 million.

Western markets continued to improve over the report period ended June 6. The VSE composite index rose 25.88 points, climbing above the 800 level to close at 807.43. The resource index gained 19.89 points to finish at 1,325.78.

War Eagle Mining agreed to form a joint venture with New York-listed Hecla Mining on its La Fortuna silver-gold prospect in Mexico, causing the former to gain 90 cents, finishing at $4.10. Hecla can earn a 60% interest by spending $5 million on the project over four years. A preliminary resource in two zones is estimated at 17.5 million tons grading 21.5 oz. silver and 0.093 oz. gold per ton. An initial exploration program by Hecla will entail 12,000 ft. of drilling.

Alberta-listed Holmer Gold Mines shot up $1.31 to close at $2.60, although there have been no corporate developments of late that might account for the increase. Toronto-listed Caledonia Mining can earn half of Holmer’s 50% interest in several Cuban properties by spending $5 million over five years. Holmer is carrying out a $1-million exploration program, which includes a second phase of drilling on the Loma Hierro silver deposit, where initial drilling outlined a probable reserve of 550,000 tons averaging 10 oz. silver per ton.

The recent increase in share value of Toronto-listed International Curator Resources is rubbing off on Copperstone Resources. The issue gained 23 cents, finishing at $1. Copperstone is earning an 80% interest from Island-Arc Resources in six concessions in Baja California Sur, Mexico. One concession, Purgatoria, adjoins the eastern border of Curator’s Boleo copper-cobalt project, and the remaining concessions are nearby. A group led by Adolf Lundin is buying the majority of a brokered private placement of 3.9 million special warrants of International Curator at a price of $2.50. Curator’s Boleo project hosts a potentially open-pit resource estimated at 124 million tonnes grading 0.76% copper and 0.073% cobalt.

International Freegold Mineral Development hopes to use proceeds from a private placement of 950,000 units, priced at 53 cents each, to acquire several properties in the Voisey Bay area. Freegold is also pursuing financing for a planned 40,000-ft. drill program at the Golden Summit project near Fairbanks, Alaska. Freegold closed at $1.09, a gain of 29 cents.

Golden Quail Resources signed an exploration agreement with Toronto-listed Cominco Resources International concerning a 32,000-acre gold project in the historic mining district of Pinos in central Mexico. Cominco can earn a 65% interest by spending US$2.2 million over three and a half years. Golden Quail finished up 27 cents at 97 cents.

Investors are awaiting results from an airborne magnetic and electromagnetic survey carried out over Absolut Resources’ 203,960-acre land package near Voisey Bay. A field program of follow-up mapping and sampling will get under way in early July. The Alberta-listed issue jumped $1.45 to close at $5.75.

An application for a 3-hole diamond drilling program on the Niatak property, 28 miles east of the Voisey Bay discovery, has been made to the Newfoundland Department of Natural Resources. Joint-venture partners Goldnev Resources and Starcore Resources have released preliminary sampling results from a gossanous zone trending east-west and measuring 980 by 330 ft. Five samples of massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite mineralization, collected over a strike length of 75 metres, returned values ranging between 0.16% and 0.32% nickel, 0.37-0.65% copper and 0.057-0.114% cobalt. An additional 15 samples, taken over 375 metres of disseminated pyrrhotite mineralization, yielded values as high as 0.45% copper with anomalous nickel and cobalt. Goldnev jumped 50 cents to close at $1.60, while Starcore gained 52 cents to close at $1.39.