Trading Summary (January 13, 2004)

Despite hitting a session high of 8,428.88 points, the S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the day at a virtual standstill, off only 0.03 point to 8,380.34. The markets were pulled lower by sagging gold stocks, which pulled the S&P/TSX gold index down 5.26 points, or 2.36%, to 217.50.

With gold prices pausing fro another day in the mid US$420-per-oz. range, all the gold index components ended the day down except for Iamgold, which closed up 9 cents to $8.70. Particularly hard hit were Nevsun Resources, down 11.3% to $5.34, and Rio Narcea Gold Mines, off 7.5% to $3.84.

The base-metal laden S&P/TSX Mining index likewise ended the day in the red, falling 3.02 points, or 1.37%, to 217.88. Of note, Teck Cominco slipped 2 to $20.50 as it responded to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by stating that the EPA does not have jurisdiction over its Canadian lead-zinc smelter located in Trail, B.C. The response follows a deadline imposed by the EPA after it had terminated negotiations on Teck’s offer to address the potential impact of metals in sediments in Lake Roosevelt.

Canada’s junior exchange lost some ground as investors took profits. Advancing stocks lost to declining stocks 351 to 518 and the S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index shed 21.6 points, or 1.19% and closed at 1,795.38 with a volume of almost 106 million shares.

China Diamond came off of its 52-week high losing a dime and closing at 45 on 5.8 million shares traded. The company, which recently changed its name from Pan Asia Mining, has a controlling interest in the 701 Changma Diamond Mine in Shandong province. A recent independent diamond valuation from secured production determined that 51% of a 4,277.1-carat parcel of diamonds were gem quality. This included a single 33.3-carat stone. The total value of the parcel is estimated to be between US$350,000 and US$400,000, or between US$76.10 and US$88.30 per carat. The parcel of stones was processed from 5,997 tonnes of material from the mine with a resulting grade of 0.79 carat per tonne. A review by SRK Consulting indicates that the diamond distribution, particularly the number of larger stones collected, is in agreement with the stone size distribution defined by the mineral resource and is considered a representative parcel of diamonds for valuation.

International Coromandel Resources tacked on 2.5 and closed at 22.5 with 4.8 million shares traded. The company has arranged a non-brokered private placement for a minimum of $500,000 to a maximum or $1 million at 19 cents per unit. Each unit consists of one share and one full warrant exercisable at 25 cents for two years. In addition, the junior has completed the sale of it’s Wildcat property, located in Nevada, and has received 50,000 shares of Vista Gold. The proceeds from both the private placement and the sale of the Vista Gold shares will be used to finance the company’s initial 2004 exploration program on its La Eme and San Enrique gold and copper-gold targets in Mexico, respectively. The money will also be used for general corporate purposes.

Mandorin Goldfields found a penny and closed at 19 with 2.18 million shares traded. Mandorin has stepped into gold game in China through the acquisition of a 100% ownership of a Chinese wholly-owned foreign enterprise with direct access to a portfolio of gold exploration projects in China. Mandorin intends to perform systematic exploration to determine the scale of the projects in its portfolio. Specific project details about the deal and associated projects have yet to be released.