‘Tis the season for volume trading

The report period Dec. 8-14 saw the price of gold fall US$14.70 to close at US$437.10 per oz. in the afternoon in London. The gold index managed to hold its own and fell a mere 0.19 of a point to close at 209.11, and the diversified metals and mining index was up by 5.93 points, or 2.4%, at 253.43 points. The S&P TSX composite index rose 95 points to end the week at 9,086.36 points.

Wheaton River Minerals continued to lead the way in volume, trading 33 million shares. Wheaton and Goldcorp plan to merge on a 4:1 basis. The companies are in exclusive negotiations with each other until Dec. 27. Wheaton ended 2 lower at $4.07, while Goldcorp traded 7 million shares and lost 6 to close at $17.02.

Silver Wheaton was the second-most-active mining stock, with just over 17 million shares changing hands; the stock rose 7 to end at 73. The company has agreed to purchase all the silver produced at the Zinkgruvan mine in Sweden. The mine is expected to produce about 2 million oz. silver per year for at least the next 19 years.

Queenstake Resources traded 11.7 million shares and fell 2 to close at 43.5. Queenstake began trading on the American stock exchange on Dec. 13 under the ticker symbol qee. In the third quarter, the company’s Jerritt Canyon mine produced 73,070 oz. gold from 358,600 tons of ore grading 0.22 oz. per ton.

Virginia Gold is reaping rewards from its exploration at the lonore gold project in the James Bay area of Quebec. The company was awarded the title “Prospector of the Year” at the Quebec Exploration Convention because of this and other exploration success. The stock rose 21%, or 62, to close at $3.57.

Hillsborough Resources traded 4.5 million shares and rose 14, or 16%, to close at $1.02. A private-placement offering of up to 5 million shares at 90 per share will close Dec. 30. The company’s Bingay Creek project in British Columbia has a measured and indicated resource of about 7.6 million tonnes of metallurgical-grade coal.

High River Gold reported that, subject to regulatory approval, it will issue about 28 million shares in exchange for an 82% stake in Buryatzoloto, a company which owns and operates two underground gold mines in Siberia. The stock rose 13.6%, or 21, to close at $1.75 on a volume of 2.2 million shares.

Formation Capital was up 13.5%, or 5, to close at 42 with almost 1.7 million shares traded. The company is working on a plan of operation for the Idaho cobalt project and expects a final environmental impact statement to be complete by late summer 2005.

Bolivar Gold traded 4 million shares in one day and ended the report period down 6 at $1.98. The company expects to be producing gold at its Choco 10 property in Venezuela early next year.

On a volume of close to 1 million shares, Fronteer Development lost 29, or 15.6% to close at $1.56. Fronteer reported results from uranium exploration in Labrador. The average grade from 350 rock samples was 0.2% U3O8. The best assay was 13.33% U3O8. Their joint-venture partner in the project, Altius Minerals, saw its stock fall 4 to $4.05.