Trading Summary (July 26, 2002)

A late-day recovery left the Toronto Stock Exchange slightly higher on Friday. The TSX Composite index picked up 31.50 points to finish the day at 6,309.94, a gain of half a per cent.

The Metals and Mining index was almost unchanged at 118.60, but the TSX Golds were hammered, falling 11.20 points or 7.4% of value to close at 140.70. Gold, which was fixed at US$308.60 in the London morning session, dove in early New York trading, closing at US$303.40 on the New York Comex.

The mid-tier gold producers took the worst of the selloff, with Kinross Gold falling 18% or 48 to close at $2.10 on a volume of 8.8 million shares. Kinross’s merger buddies TVX Gold and Echo Bay Mines were slammed more or less in proportion to the merger bid ratios, with TVX falling $2.74 at $13.61 and Echo Bay hit for 24, closing at $1.10.

Four other index mid-tiers lost more than 10% of their share value: Meridian Gold, down $2.31 at $20.25, Agnico Eagle Mines, down $2.40 at $16.02, Bema Gold, down 25 at $1.47, and Iamgold, down 50 at $4.05.

The big guys didn’t suffer as much, with Barrick Gold off $2.20 at $22.20 and Placer Dome sliding 55 to $12.70.

Off the index, Campbell Resources closed 12 lower at 53, Cambior backed up 9 to $1.11, and Richmont Mines was down 60 at $3.40. Rio Narcea Gold dodged the carnage, adding 1 to finish at $1.18.

Palladium and platinum miner North American Palladium recovered a lot of ground, jumping $1.34 to close at $8. Diamond producer Namibian Minerals was the biggest percentage gainer on the board, tacking on 10 to finish at 23.

Trading was quieter in the base metal sector, except for the most active stock, Ivanhoe Mines, which fell 28 to $2.12 on a volume of 666,462 shares.

Noranda announced it had bought a further 3.3 million shares of affiliate Falconbridge on the open market, bringing its holding in the base metal producer to 58%. Noranda was up 45 at $16.25 and Falconbridge was 2 higher at $16.17.

Teck Cominco B-series shares continued to bounce, this time falling 45 to $11.50.

Investors bailed out of Canada’s junior exchange pushing the market below the crucial 1,000 point mark on heavy volume. The TSX Venture Composite Exchange lost 27.21 points, or 2.7%to close at 994.69.

American Bonanza Gold Mining continued to lose ground, dropping 1 to close at 13 on over 1.1 million shares. The junior is aiming to advance the Copperstone gold project in Arizona.

Masuparia Gold ended the week unchanged at 9 on a heavy 1 million shares. The junior has been exploring the Greywacke gold project just north of La Ronge, Saskatchewan.

Rubicon Minerals lost 13 to close at 77 on 520,264 shares. The gold explorer has a large land position in the prolific Red Lake area of northern Ontario.

National Gold continued to free fall, losing 4 to end the session at 32 on a moderate 389,000 shares. The Albert Matter -led junior’s joint venture partner Alamos Minerals is drilling the Salamandra gold property in Mexico.

Anooraq Resources ended the session unchanged at 85 on 194,200 shares. The Hunter Dickinson-led junior has been actively traded since announcing that its joint venture partner on its Rietfontein platinum-group-metal prospect in the Bushveld camp of South Africa had intersected rocks identified as the favourable Platreef horizon. Assay results are pending.