Trading Summary (November 18, 2003)

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s gold index stole the show on Tuesday, soaring 8.53 points, or just short of 4%, to a 52-week high of 226.70. The jump was powered by the yellow metal, which geared up for another run at the US$400-per-oz. grabbing US$5.90-per-oz. to make US$396.70 per oz. in New York. The diversified miners chipped in a 0.43% gain, but it wasn’t enough to keep the TSX out of the red. Overall, the S&P/TSX composite index ended 28.66 points lower at 7,737.39.

South American Gold & Copper gained a penny and a half to reach 11.5 with around 34.6 million shares traded, enough to rank as the TSX’s most active issue. Queenstake Resources was the closest mining issue, climbing 8, or about 10%, to 91 with less than half as many shares traded. Queenstake shares were boosted by the latest batch of underground and surface drilling results from the recently acquired Jerritt Canyon mine in Nevada.

Profit takers sent shares in Asia Pacific Resources and TVI Pacific southward. Asia Pacific dropped 3.5 to 16.5, while TVI shed 1.5 to hit 19. Asia Pac has agreed in principle to jointly develop its 90%-owned Udon Thani potash deposit in Thailand with China state-owned Enterprise Investment. The deal includes long-term offtake commitments and US$300 million worth of financing required for initial capital costs of a proposed 2-million-tonne-per-year mine.

TVI Pacific has been granted a wholly foreign-owned enterprise certificate, which it says provides security for its Shuikoushan gold project in the south-central part of the country. It also allows TVI to acquire, own, and explore projects throughout China. TVI can also import any materials and equipment required for that exploration. The company recently raised $2 million for exploration via bought deal with Haywood Securities.

Thistle Mining resumed its climb, ending 6 higher at 48. The company recently reported that a re-evaluation of drill data at the President Steyn gold mine in South Africa, has added two large blocks ore resource totalling about 740,000 tonnes grading 8.5 grams gold per tonne.

Advancing stocks beat declining stocks 473 to 421 today on Canada’s junior exchange. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index tacked on 18.06 points, or 1.12% and closed at 1,634.38 on a volume of 91.4 million shares.

ECU Silver Mines closed at 23.5, up 4.5 with 2.16 million shares traded. At last report, the original vendors have challenged ECU’s ownership (through a subsidiary) of the mining properties in the Velardena area of Mexico.

American Bonanza Gold Mining closed at 42.5, up a penny on 1.56 million shares. The junior is in the midst of an underground core drilling program at the Copperstone project in Arizona.

Golden Goliath Resources finished the day at 67, up 12 on 1.2 million shares. The company is exploring its Las Bolas property in northwestern Mexico. A total of 70 chip samples from the old Gambusino mine averaged 267.52 grams silver per tonne and 0.22 grams gold per tonne. At the El Corazon workings, 15 chip samples averaged 25 grams silver and 1.25 grams gold and 12 chip samples from the Guadalupana tunnel averaged 16.23 grams silver and 1.43 grams gold. The company is gearing up for a drill program to test these prospects.