Trading Summary (March 01, 2004)

Canada’s diversified mining crowd stole the show on Monday jumping 8.94 points, or nearly 4%, to end at 239.73. The golds couldn’t keep pace, but managed to chip in a 3.56-point gain to 214.84. By the end of trading the S&P/TSX Composite Index was 88.52 points higher at 8,877.01 points.

Breakwater Resources was the most traded mining issue with more than 7.6 million shares making their way 7 higher to 83. Next came Wheaton River Minerals, which finished 10 to the good at $3.70 on about 6.1 million shares. Sherritt International rounded out the top three with a 48 gain to $7.76 on 4.5 million shares.

Kinross Gold rose 28, or 3%, to $9.19. On Monday, Kinross said its fourth-quarter earnings came to US$32.2 million, (or 9 per share) compared with a year-ago loss of US$14.7 million (12 per share). The country’s remaining major producers lagged behind a bit gaining about 1%. Barrick Gold made 27 to hit $27.50, while Placer Dome advanced 22 to $22.80.

Southern Cross Resources soared 34, or more than 25%, to a new 52-week high of $1.69 on an unusually high 3.4 million shares. The company recently began a 60-hole drilling campaign on its Honeymoon project in South Australia. The first phase of this initial program will involve a total of 60 holes in a regularly spaced east-west traverse across the length of the Honeymoon uranium deposit and three smaller traverses from north to south across the width of the deposit. The holes will aim to test whether historical drilling underestimated the grade thickness of the ore-body and to identify extensions to the deposit.

Not to be outdone, Vancouver-based junior Golden Queen Mining rocket 37 to a year-high of 90. There was no news immediately available out of the company. Likewise, Quebec-based copper-zinc explorer Cancor Mines added a dime, or 15%, to make 50 on no news.

Falconbridge avoided another strike at its Sudbury operations by inking a new three-year deal with 220 unionized office, clerical and technical employees. The latest ratification comes a week after maintenance and production workers ended a three-week strike by ratifying a new three-year deal of their own. Shares in Falconbridge finished $1.01 higher at $37.01.