Trading Summary (December 03, 2003)

Gold held up above US$400 per oz. again on Wednesday, finishing at US$404.30 on the Comex in New York. But gold equities dropped as investors took out some recent profits, bringing the TSX Gold index down 1.18 points to 242.28.

The broader market held up well, though, and the TSX Composite index advanced 32.28 points to 7,959.88. Among the winners was the base-metal sector, whose TSX Metals and Mining index rose another 1.04 points to 205.10.

Rebounding zinc prices made Teck Cominco the big gainer on the base metal index, rising 95 to $18.70 on a volume of just under 2 million shares. Close behind was Noranda, which traded 1.9 million shares on the way to a gain of gain of 32 and a close of $17.96.

Spot zinc prices finished at US$974 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday.

The biggest loss on the gold board was Golden Star Resources, which had enjoyed a healthy bull run. Profit-takers sold today, bringing Golden Star back to $10.33, a fall of 44.

Off the indices, Tahera Corp. was the most active mineral-exploration company on the board, gaining 3 to close at 29.5 on a volume of 13 million shares. Tahera announced it had reached an agreement in principle with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association over impacts and benefits at its Jericho diamond project in Nunavut.

Another high-volume junior was diamond explorer Caldera Resources, which announced microdiamond discoveries at its Runton property in Western Australia. Caldera was up 2.5 at 16.5 on a volume of 3.7 million shares.

Canada’s junior exchange traded in the red for the entire session but some late day buying helped trim losses. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index lost 0.11 of a point and closed at 1,711.68.

Inca Pacific lost 1 on news that the junior closed a $5 million financing. Some $US$2.1 million will be used to exercise the option to purchase Anaconda Peru’s 51% interest in the Magistral copper project. Upon exercise of the option, Inca will hold a 100% interest in the project. The junior ended the day at 29 on 2.36 million shares traded.

Expatriate Resources ended the day unchanged at 40 on just over 2.05 million shares traded. Last month, the company hired Hatch Associates to complete preliminary engineering and economic studies evaluating the Wolverine base metal deposit in the Yukon. The combined project, referred to as the Yukon zinc project, uses both the Logan and Wolverine deposits in the southeast Yukon.

Investors continued to pick up shares in JNR Resources. The junior’s stock has run up on news that International Uranium has optioned of the company’s Moore Lake and Lazy Edward Bay uranium properties in the Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan. JNR ended the day at 26.5, up 0.5 on just over 2 million shares traded.