Trading Summary (August 01, 2003)

Trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange was heavy for a Friday heading into a long weekend, as the TSX Composite index slipped 39.34 points to 7,218.58. The day saw most of the sectors falling back, but the TSX Metals and Mining was one of three that moved up, rising 0.99 point to 141.94.

Teck Cominco was the best of the base metal miners on Friday, picking up 23 to finish at $12.80. The volume leader was Ivanhoe Mines, which fell 6 to $4.16 on a volume of 3.6 million shares.

Most of the nickel miners had a good day, with two of them posting better than a 1% gain: Inco closed at $33.27, 51 ahead, and LionOre Mining was up 8 at $6.40. Falconbridge added a dime to close at $19.35. The only one missing out on the fun was Sherritt International, which was off 3 at $4.80. Sherritt’s earnings are scheduled for release next week.

One base-metal company whose earnings did come out today, Cameco, was off 15 at $43.59. Cameco earned $104 million on revenues of $220 million in the quarter ended June 30, and had pocketed $141 million on revenues of $323 million in the first half of 2003.

The golds fell today, as the yellow metal gave up about US$8 compared to Thursday. The London gold fix was US$352.35 per oz. but later trading in New York pulled the price down to the middle of the US$346 range. The TSX Gold index was off 1.90 points to close at 176.17, a loss near 1% of value.

It was a measure of the kind of day the golds had that the best news was that Gabriel Resources was unchanged at $2.30 in light trading. All the other members of the gold index lost ground. Bema Gold was the most active, as 3.1 million shares changed hands, and it fell 2 to $2.31.

Among the Big Three, Barrick Gold fell 27 to $23.80, keeping pace with the group; Placer Dome gave up 7 to close at $17.18, while Kinross Gold lost 13 to finish at $8.95, a percentage loss of 1.4%.

Goldcorp, whose recent share-buying has produced rumors that the company had an acquisition in the works, took the worst hit of the day, falling 40 to $16.65. Glamis Gold was off 28 at $17.47, while Meridian Gold got out with a 3 loss on the day, closing at $17.67.

Off the index, junior producer Claude Resources was up 4 at $1.45 on a volume of 2.2 million. Claude, which has its Madsen project in Red Lake under a joint venture with Placer Dome, may be benefiting from rumors of Goldcorp’s share buying. Rio Narcea Gold was happy to be a nickel play on Friday, as it rose 7 to $2.30 as the other gold producers were falling.

Canada’s junior exchange ended the trading week by breaking a 10-session winning streak. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index lost 1.32 points, or 0.11%, and closed at 1,213.03.

Saxony Explorations fell back 1.5 to close at 10.5 on 1.5 million shares traded. The junior recently inked an acquisition agreement with a privately-held group to pick up ten properties in the historic Juneau gold belt of Alaska.

Shares in Donner Minerals surged 4.5 to close at 21 on a volume of just over 1.7 million. The junior holds ground in the South Voisey Bay area of Labrador, Newfoundland and a project in the Stephens Lake area of Manitoba. The Company’s partners in the South Voisey Bay Project include Toronto-listed Falconbridge and Teck Cominco, along with various junior resource companies.

KWG Resources dropped 1 to close at 11 on nearly 1.2 million shares traded. At last report, the junior, along with partner Spider Resources completed hole 9 on the McFauld Lake massive sulphide project on the Spider #3 property in the James Bay lowlands of Ontario. The hole tested for mineralization below the intercept cut in hole 8 (3.39% copper over 5.6 metres followed by 7.64% zinc over 4.1 metres). Holes 10 and 11 are collared 150 metres northeast. Spider ended the day down half a penny at 11 on 380,000 shares traded.