Trading Summary (August 21, 2002)

A plus-4% gain by the tech stocks powered the Toronto Stock Exchange 9.62 points higher to a 6,664.91-point close on Wednesday. The golds went the other way, following the yellow metal’s lead, dropping 3.63 points or 2.2% of their value to 161.20 points. The base metal miners managed to hang on to a 0.8-of-a-point gain settling at 122.89 points.

Canada’s big three gold miners all put in losses on the day. Kinross Gold shed 11 to $2.55 on about 5.5 million shares, Barrick Gold lost 45 to $22.90 and Placer Dome finished 31 lighter at $12.90.

Inco outpaced the country’s remaining base metal miners tacking on 50 to make $28.90 with nearly 2 million shares traded. Alcan grabbed $1.14 to reach $44.60. Falconbridge, up 63 at $17.29, and its parent company Noranda, plus 68 to $17.70, were the other two major producers to put in gains. On Monday, Noranda officially dropped the axe on the Montanore copper-silver project in northwestern Montana after an updated feasibility study deemed the project uneconomic. The project had been idle since late 1991 and most site infrastructure was gone by 1995.

On the diamond watch, Ashton Mining of Canada soared 11 or 10% to $1.20 after announcing the discovery of a seventh kimberlite body on the Foxtrot property in Quebec’s Otish Mountains region. Ashton holds the property equally with Soquem.

SouthernEra Resources grabbed a dime to hit $5.10. The company plans to boost to 75.3% from 70.4% its stake in the Messina platinum group metals mine in South Africa by underwriting a rights offering by the mine’s owner, Messina Ltd.

Other large percentage moves in the diamond mining sector included: Tsodilo Resources, falling back 8 or 32% to 17; Caldera Resources, off 2 or 20% to 8, and Diamond Fields International, a dime or 18.5% lighter at 44. Twin Mining dropped a nickel or 10.6% to 42.

Canada’s junior exchange slipped under the 1000-point benchmark today as it continued its slide into bear territory. The TSX Venture Exchange composite index lost 2.78 points, or 0.28%, and closed at 999.10 with 24.7 million shares traded.

Diagem International Resources was the day’s volume leader with 877,522 shares changing hands. The junior diamond explorer remained flat at 17. Diagem’s bulk testing program on its 108 property in Brazil on test pit #7 yielded 888 diamonds weighing 75.45 carats, with sizes up to 2.05 carats. Results from test pits 8 and 9 are expected shortly.

Loubel Explorations tacked on 3 and closed at 10 with 333,000 shares traded. The junior states that its joint venture partner, Toronto-listed Inmet Mining, has kicked off a 8,00-metre drilling program at the Lemoine project in the Chibougamau mining camp in Quebec. Two drill machines are spinning and testing a series of targets located along the same stratigraphic horizon that hosted the past producing Lemoine mine from which 758,070 tonnes of massive sulphides were extracted from 1975 to 1983 with a grade of 4.2% copper, 9.6% zinc, 4.2 grams gold and 83.4 grams per tonne silver.

ECU Silver Mining lost a penny and closed the week at 5 with 237,000 shares traded. The company recently inked a deal with Trustyard Capital for a private placement of $300,000. ECU Silver owns the Velardena silver mine in central Mexico which has a resource of 2.4 million tonnes grading 269 grams silver and 2.80 grams gold per tonne.

Anooraq Resources closed up 2 to 84 on 177,500 shares. Anooraq’s joint venture partner, African Minerals, is currently drilling the 2,900-ha Rietfontein farm on the prolific northern limb of the Bushveld Complex. African Minerals stands to earn a 50% interest in the property.