STOCK MARKETS — Western indices continue upward trend

The Toronto Stock Exchange lost some ground over the trading period ended Sept. 3, with the TSE 300 composite index off 21.99 points to close at 5,151.89. Trading was active in the earlier part of the week, averaging roughly 85 million shares per day, but tailed off to the 55-million-share level during the final two days of the period under review.

Base metal stocks underperformed the market, while the golds were close to the market average.

The Canadian dollar enjoyed another strong week, slipping slightly against the U.S. dollar and the pound, but gaining against the other major currencies. The Loony was at US73 cents at noon on Sept. 3, down 13 basis points from the previous week.

Gold prices on the London bullion market fell $2.70 per oz. over the period Aug. 29-Sept. 4, settling at US$385.95 per oz. at the London morning fix.

Silver gave up 6 cents to end the period at US$5.15 per oz., while platinum fell $5 to finish at US$395 per oz. Palladium’s woes improved only slightly, adding 25 cents on the interbank market for a Sept. 3 price of $127 per oz.

The golds were off fractionally, losing 62.40 points to close at 11,817.40 on Sept. 3. Bema Gold was the most actively traded issue on the sub-index, losing 75 cents to close at $10.45. Barrick Gold was unchanged at $37.55, Placer Dome lost 35 cents to finish at $33.30, and Kinross Gold fell 45 cents to $10.75.

Upstream swimmers included Agnico-Eagle Mines, which rose $1.45 on takeover speculation to close at $23.50, Goldcorp, up 55 cents to $13.30, and Euro-Nevada Mining, which added $1.25 to finish at $34.50.

London Metal Exchange prices for base metals were higher, due in part to the troubles in the Middle East. Nickel was the big winner, climbing 10 cents to $3.37 per lb. Copper added 2 cents to 91 cents per lb., and zinc and lead were each 1 cents higher.

Base metal issues were generally weaker as well, with the TSE metals and minerals index closing 65.87 points lower at 5,251.53, a loss of 1.2% from the week before. Inco fell 75 cents, closing at $44.10, Falconbridge lost 5 cents for a close of $29.95, and Cominco was 5 cents lower at $30.70.

The market decided Gibraltar Mining had suffered enough and the stock rebounded to $6.05, a gain of $1.05 on the week. The company secured financing for the development of its Lomas Bayas copper deposit in Chile, and Placer Dome is looking for a buyer for its 30.8% stake in the company.

Noranda added 15 cents for a close of $29 and Rio Algom posted a 10 cents gain for a closing price of $27.25.

Toronto juniors made for a livelier market last week. NovaGold Resources, down 2 cents to 35 cents, was the most active of the TSE juniors with 4.6 million shares traded. Vancouver-listed Chapleau Resources, NovaGold’s JV partner at the Sewell Brook copper project in New Brunswick, was on the VSE’s most-active list, and was 37 cents higher at $2.23.

AMT International Mining, which announced it would be contracting for a feasibility study at its Copper Creek copper-molybdenum project in Arizona, was up 50 cents to $1.10. Mirage Resources was 42 cents higher at $1.30; the company, with affiliate Kinross Gold, arranged additional financing for additional work on its projects in El Salvador.

Vior Mining and Aurizon Mining announced that they would conduct development work on the Douay West gold deposit near Joutel, Que., with Aurizon earning a 50% interest by bringing the deposit to production. Vior, at $1.13, was 6 cents higher on a volume of 2.6 million shares. Aurizon added 5 cents to close at $1.20.

Raudin Explorations succeeded Vior as the Montreal Exchange’s mystery stock, adding 14 cents to close at 40 cents on 686,000 shares. The company has stated that there has been no material change in its affairs. Another Montreal listing, Azimut Exploration, was 40 cents higher at 95 cents.VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index edged up 21.7 points over the holiday-shortened report period ended Sept. 3 to close at 1,233.65. The resource index followed suit, climbing 20.77 points to finish at 2,440.88.

In heavy trading, Chapleau Resources rose 37 cents to $2.23. Partial results of its first drill hole on the Sewell Brook property in northern New Brunswick included a 10.3-metre interval starting at a depth 14.9 metres grading 0.013 oz. gold and 1.96 oz. silver per tonne, plus 28.45% zinc, 4.74% lead and 1.08% copper. Chapleau can earn a half interest in the property from Toronto-listed NovaGold Resources, which previously drilled the property in the early 1990s. Sewell Brook is adjacent to Chapleau’s Shingle Gulch property, where current drilling is reported to have encountered a new zone of mineralization.

A preliminary 5-hole, 1,000-metre drill program on the Palo Ralo gold prospect at the San Martin concession in central Honduras returned sub-ore grade mineralization, including 31.5 metres grading 0.73 gram gold. Curion Ventures, which can earn a 50% interest from Mar-West Resources remained unchanged at 50 cents, while Mar-West slipped 7 cents to $1.38.

Consolidated Silver Tusk Mines jumped $2.15 to close at $5.95. The company has a 40-man crew carrying out a first phase of exploration on its 80%-held, 925.8-ha Pt. Karya Bukit Utama gold-silver epithermal property, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Work there includes geological mapping, trenching and sampling, the opening of 27 old adits, and up to 15 holes of drilling. Small-scale, underground mining in the past produced more than 43,000 tonnes grading 10 grams gold and 189 grams silver. The main vein was mined to a depth of 100 metres below surface.

Drilling on the joint-ventured Lipton claims of Better Resources and Prism Resources in the Detour Lake area of northwestern Ontario intersected 7.5 metres between a depth of 83 and 90.5 metres grading 12.28 grams gold, including a 1.5-metre interval grading 47.72 grams. Better closed up 18 cents at 52 cents, while Prism remained unchanged at 70 cents

Alberta-listed Gitennes Exploration tacked on 80 cents at $2.10. The company has increased its Virgen property in the Huamachuco region of Peru to 10,440 ha from 1,900 ha. Initial chip sampling returned 50 metres of 3.65 grams gold and 100 metres of 2.51 grams gold.

Partners Camnor Resources and Gold Giant Minerals released results for a additional 13 holes of a 20-hole underground program at the Willoughby project near Stewart, B.C. Drilling tested an 85-metre section of the North zone at a downdip length of up to 120 metres. Selected results ranged from 1.5 metres of 0.017 oz. gold to 1 metre of 0.48 oz. A 1,750-metre program of surface drilling on the Wilby zone is under way. Camnor closed down 13 cents to 50 cents, while Gold Giant was up 1 cents at 39 cents.

Teuton Resources closed down 43 cents to $1.23 and Minvita Enterprises fell 52 cents to $1.18 on the release of results from the remaining nine holes of the first phase of drilling on the jointly held Clone gold property in northwestern British Columbia. Results included 14.4 ft. grading 0.45 oz. in hole 41, which was drilled in the vicinity of previously reported hole 18.

That hole intersected 98.5 ft. of 0.45 oz. A second phase of drilling is in progress, with more than 19 holes completed to date.

Prime Equities International posted a 79 cents gain, closing at $2.29 on news that Michael Pezim had replaced his ailing father as president of the company.

Pacific Rim Mining dropped to $1.46, a loss of $1.04, on the release of drill results from its Diablillos gold-silver property in Argentina, where Toronto-listed Barrick Gold continues to drill.

A jump of $4.40, to $15.80, prompted Francisco Gold to report that there are no material changes in the company’s affairs. The company is planning a 5,000-metre drill program in October for its fully owned El Sauzal gold project in Mexico’s Chihuahua state. Francisco recently increased its land position in the region to 200,000 acres and will soon begin mapping, sampling and ground geophysics.