Trading Summary (September 10, 2003)

The Toronto Stock Exchange closed lower on Wednesday, with the TSX Composite index down 25.45 points at 7,571.06. The decline was broad-based, led by the information technology stocks, but both the golds and the base metals fell more sharply than the broad market did.

Gold bullion prices eased off after Tuesday’s sharp increase. The London afternoon fix was US$380 per oz., down US$2.25 from the day before, and the price held through the New York afternoon. The day also saw long drops in the prices of the white goods, with platinum down US$10 at US$704 per oz., and palladium down US$14 at US$718.

The TSX Gold index fell 3.42 points to 203.70, a decline of 1.7%, with all the stocks on the index falling. The biggest percentage decline belonged to Iamgold, which slid 26 to $8.34, while Barrick Gold took the biggest hit in absolute terms, a 59 loss to close at $27.90.

Trading was moderate to heavy; silver miner Wheaton River Minerals was the most active, with 3.7 million shares traded as it fell 5 to $2.71. Despite encouraging exploration results from the Kupol property in the Russian Far East, Bema Gold was off 10 at $3.34, on a volume of 3.3 million shares.

You had to go off the index to find a gold miner gaining on Tuesday: Thistle Mining was up a nickel at 73 on a volume of just over 2 million shares. Another winner was explorer Cumberland Resources, which announced good results from its Goose Island gold project in Nunavut; it rose 1 to $4.10 with just over a million shares moving.

The base metal miners didn’t have quite as bad a day as the golds. The TSX Metals and Mining index was off 1.17 points at 155.77, and the sector at least had a few gainers. The winner was Falconbridge, which was up 58 at $21.50; parent Noranda was 15 higher at $13.85, and LionOre Mining International was 7 better at $6.62.

Leading the base metals downward was Cameco, which was off $1.76 at $46.48. The uranium producer had announced on Tuesday that it was planning to issue between $200 million and $230 million in convertible debentures, with the proceeds going to debt reduction.

Profit-takers got out of Ivanhoe Mines, which was down 18 at $6.85. The stock has more than doubled since early July, when new results began to trickle out of the Turquoise Hill copper project in Mongolia.

Canada’s junior exchange ended the day in the red for the first time in recent memory as investor’s appetite for gold-related issues waned. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index lost 0.8 of a point and closed at 1,361.37.

ECU Silver Mining closed at 8.5, flat on the day with 3.8 million shares traded. The stock resumed trading Aug. 8 after a cease-trading order was lifted. ECU’s ownership (through a subsidiary) of the mining properties in the Velardena area of Mexico has been challenged by the original vendors. The dispute has resulted in a production shortfall: only 2,606 tonnes were milled between March 24 and May 4 instead of the 5,000 tonnes planned. The average grades for that period were 6.15 grams gold and 299 grams silver, with recoveries of 75% for gold and 38% for silver.

International Samuel Exploration got a boost from news that the initial drill hole has discovered the first kimberlite pipe on the Churchill West diamond property in Nunavut. Hole 29 tested a geophysical anomaly in the easternmost part of the property and cut kimberlite at a depth of 45 feet. The hole remains in kimberlite at 235 feet. Shares in the company closed at 34, up 3 on a volume of just over 2 million.

Donner Minerals added 2 to close at 24 on just over 1.1 million shares traded. The company’s main asset is the South Voisey Bay nickel sulphide project in Labrador where joint venture partner, Toronto-listed Falconbridge, can earn a 50% interest in the entire project area by spending $23 million over 5 years. The junior also holds a 27% stake in fellow junior Knight Resources,which recently tabled positive results from the West Raglan property in northern Quebec.