STOCK MARKETS — Western markets take a holiday breather

Over the holiday-shortened report period ended July 2, the Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index closed down 26.85 points at 1,226.19, while the resource index fell 70.15 points to finish at 2,196.69.

Essex Resource was off 61 cents at $3.25 on the release of preliminary drill results from nine holes at the Miguela property in Bolivia. Drilling, although hampered by poor ground conditions in the oxide material, extended the oxide zone to a depth of 50 metres before encountering underlying copper-rich massive sulphide mineralization. Selected results included: 2.4 metres of 3.1 grams gold and 16.7 grams silver per tonne in hole 1; 9.6 metres of 1.1 grams gold, 14.1 grams silver and 6.7% copper between depths of 51.8-61.4 metres in hole 3; 6.6 metres of 1.5 grams gold, 15 grams silver and 7.6% copper between depths of 54.4-61 metres in hole 4; and 8.4 metres of 1.63 grams gold and 22.8 grams silver in hole 9.

A drilling program is under way on the LA mineral claims in the Northwest Territories. The claims are part of the Doyle Lake project in which Monopros can earn a 60% interest from Gerle Gold. To date, 23 of 40 targets have been drill-tested. A further nine were rejected after ground examination. The remaining targets lie beneath lakes and will be drilled from shore. Gerle fell to a low of $1.50 before rebounding to $1.98 for a loss of 22 cents.

A 9-hole drill program on the Belencillo property in Panama returned geochemically anomalous copper and gold values from previously untested geophysical anomalies and the Trueno zone. The better intervals were 10.5 metres of 0.14% copper and 0.23 gram gold, plus 18 metres of 0.13% copper and 0.15 gram gold. Madison Enterprises, which is earning a 50% interest in the property from Toronto-listed Adrian Resources, slipped 6 cents to close at 99 cents.

Partners Greystar Resources and Churchill Resources released results from the first five drill holes in the Veta de Barro area at the Angostura property in Columbia. Hole 3 intersected 9.6 metres of 0.97 gram gold between a depth of 8.7-18.3 metres and 55 metres of 2.65 grams between a depth of 47-102 metres.

Hole 5 was collared 40 metres southwest of hole 3 and returned a 25.5-metre intersection grading 9.83 grams between a depth of 94-119.5 metres. The intersection included a 0.8-metre interval grading 248.7 grams, which, if cut to 30 grams, would translate into a weighted average of 2.97 grams over 25.5 metres. Churchill can earn a half interest in the property from Greystar by spending US$2 million and issuing 1 million shares. Greystar closed up 44 cents at $1.20, while Churchill tacked on 37 cents at 95 cents.

The start of a 5-hole drill program on Project 52, about 20 km northwest of Voisey’s Bay, Labrador, met with a 5 cents slide for NDT Ventures, which closed at $3.65. NDT is earning a 51% interest from Primero Industries, which closed down 13 cents at 79 cents.

New Guinea Gold is drilling an initial three reverse-circulation holes on the Knob prospect at the Normanby Island gold project in Papua New Guinea. The company is testing an anomalous area measuring 1,000 by 300 metres, where trenching returned values in the order of 0.1-2 grams gold and included 320 metres averaging 0.5 gram. New Guinea, which can earn a 50% interest, closed at $1.50 down 5 cents.

Santa Catalina Mining remained unchanged at 65 cents on news that it has begun a 3,000-metre drill program at the Pilar gold project in Mexico.

The acquisition of six separate exploration licences along the southwestern coast of Greenland is being made by Ellios Resources on the basis of a photogeological study. The properties are regarded as having potential to host kimberlite pipes. The issue climbed 31 cents at 73 cents.

Pacific Sentinel Gold closed down 16 cents to $1.10 after completing a $2.3-million financing. The company plans to continue to advance its Casino copper-gold-molybdenum project in the Yukon, further assess the potential for a bulk-tonnage copper-gold target at the Babine project in British Columbia and seek out new acquisitions.