Trading Summary (April 25, 2003)

The Toronto Stock Exchange was lower again on Friday, with the TSX Composite index falling 39.86 points to 6,521.69. The U.S. and major European and Pacific exchanges also had losing days as investors took profits after a couple of good weeks.

That kind of atmosphere usually translates into good news for the golds, but not this time. The TSX Gold index slid another 1.6%, closing at 154.14, down 2.48 points.

On Friday it was the mid-tiers’ turn to be hit. Bema Gold was down 7 at $1.55, the biggest percentage loss in the sector, while Agnico Eagle Mines, at $14.51, and Glamis Gold, at $15.31, came down an identical 59 for the biggest dollar loss.

Volume leader was Kinross Gold, which backed up 40 to $8.85 with just over 2 million shares riding the tape. But other than Kinross, the bigger gold producers took comparatively little punishment, as Barrick Gold was off only 14 at $21.80 and Placer Dome was unchanged at $14.25.

The one bright spot was Gabriel Resources, which added 5 to finish at $2.36 in very light trading.

The base metal stocks had an off day, though not quite as off as the broader market. The TSX Mining and Metals index fell 0.56 point to 118.10.

Cameco continues to gain ground, despite worries over the immediate future of its MacArthur River uranium mine. It rose $1.05 to $35.83, announcing that its share of earnings from the Bruce nuclear power plant in southwestern Ontario, where it owns a 31.6% interest, will be around $49 million before tax.

Trading was mostly light in the base metal stocks, except for Inco, which fell 63 to $26.75 on a volume of 1.8 million shares. Well behind Inco, with only 800,000 shares moving, was Teck Cominco B-series shares, which eased back a nickel to $10.30.

Aur Resources, which reported a first-quarter loss of US$300,000 after the close on Thursday, was down a dime at $3.50.

Noranda was down 10 at $12.20. The big miner completed its private placement of 6 million new preferred shares at $25 with parent Brascan.

Off the index, trading continued heavy in Tahera, which was unchanged at 14.5 on a volume of 1.7 million shares. A million shares of Cambior changed hands, the gold producer rising 2 to $1.92.

Canada’s junior exchange drifted lower with investors unloading speculative issues ahead of the weekend. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index plunged 5.11 points, or 0.49%, and closed at 1,039.84.

Spider Resources continued to dominate the trading floor, adding 2 on the session to close at 17 on over 4.3 million shares. The junior and joint venture partner, over-the-counter-listed KWG Resources, recently reported more massive sulphide intercepts on their Spider #3 base metal prospect in the James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario. Hole 2 on the project yielded 0.53% copper over 12.3 metres in the semi-massive sulphide zone and the massive sulphide zinc section came back 5.45% zinc over 5.35 metres.

Aquiline Resources added 3 to close at 30 on just over 1.2 million shares. The junior has been busy raising funds for the Calcatreu gold property in Argentina. The company picked up the project earlier this year from New York-listed Newmont Mining. Calcatreu is a low sulphidation epithermal gold system located approximately 200 km northeast of Meridian Gold’s El Desquite property in the province of Rio Negro in north central Patagonia.

Making a nice percentage move, Mindoro Resources surged 18 to 40 before settling 5 higher on the day to 27 on 224,500 shares. The Edmonton-based company is currently drilling the Lobo high sulphidation target in the Philippines.