Trading Summary (January 13, 2003)

The gold stocks finished on the minus side of a mixed Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday, dropping 3.05 points or 1.5% to 196.94 points. The yellow metal ended unchanged at US$354.40 per oz. in New York. The base metal miners went the other way gaining 2.64 points or nearly 2% of value to make 140.36. Overall, the S&P/TSX Composite Index edged up 8.11 points to 6,809.88.

Junior producer Ivernia West vaulted onto the TSX’s top ten traded list soaring 3.5 or nearly 88% to 7.5 with nearly 7.8 million shares on the go. The company did not release any news.

Conversely, Fording announced that it and partners Teck Cominco and Westshore Terminals Income Fund have struck a peace accord with Fording’s predator, the Sherritt Coal Partnership II, an alliance of Sherritt International and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Under a “multi-player” deal, a new entity, Fording Canadian Coal Trust, will merge the metallurgical coal assets of Fording Teck, and Sherritt’s Luscar Energy.

Fording’s shares ended Monday’s trading session 14 lighter at $33.65. For their parts, Teck’s B series climbed half a loonie to $12.50; Westshore’s shares rose 37 to $5, and Sherritt added 30 to make $4.80.

Most of the remaining base metal miners put in gains on thinner volume.

Canada’s gold majors all put in losses. Kinross Gold was the busiest dropping 3 to $3.77 with more than 3.2 million shares traded, Placer Dome was next falling 15 to $18.05, and Barrick Gold rounded out the trio with a 30 loss to $23.85.

Mid-tier producer Cambior joined in with a 28 loss to $2.17. On Monday, the company said it expects to produce fewer ounces of gold (about 522,000 ounces at a mine cost of US$227 per oz.) in 2003, as soft rock feed at its Omai mine in Guyana is depleted. Production for 2002 came to 568,900 oz., down from 614,900 oz. in 2001.

Canada’s junior exchange closed the day with 43.7 million shares traded valued at $15.6 million. Advancers edged out decliners 320-to-316 and the S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index added 3.42 points, or 0.31%, to its value and closed at 1,122.64.

Quaterra Resources lost some of last week’s gains dropping 3 to 14 on 1.37 million shares. The junior has been trying to advance the Duke Island copper-nickel-platinum-palladium property in Alaska.

Oasis Diamond Exploration lost 3 and finished at 13 on 1.25 million shares. Oasis Diamond and Arctic Star Diamond have outlined two priority targets on their Enigma property in Wawa Ontario. Drilling is expected to commence this winter.

National Gold remained flat at 38 with 696,750 shares traded. The junior is in the process of merging with joint venture partner Alamos Minerals. The two companies hold the Salamandra gold property in Sonora, Mexico.

Diagem International Resource tacked on 2 and closed at 21 with 676,750 shares traded. The company recently tabled results from its pilot plant in the Juina diamond province, in Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The junior reports that an additional 1,121 diamonds weighing 308 carats have been recovered during bulk testing on the “Donna Maria” area on property 213, since December. This brings the total for this area to over 2,000 diamonds weighing more than 560 carats. The pilot plant has achieved its targeted operating capacity of 25 cubic metres per hour.