Trading Summary (October 25, 2002)

Market-wide gains sent the Toronto Stock Exchange 69.01 points or 1.1% higher to 6,405.87 on Friday. The golds rose 2.49 points to 164.52 and the base metal miners added 1.45 points to hit 126.14 in the middle of the pack.

Placer Dome was the most active gold major advancing 7 to $13.45 on a trading volume of about 4.1 million shares. Kinross Gold was the next gold miner volume-wise, tacking on 3 pennies to make $2.45.

Norandadisplaced usual top ten finisher Barrick Gold, dropping 12 to $14.75 on more than 3.2 million shares. After posting a larger-than-expected, third-quarter loss, Noranda said it could sell some non-core assets. The company also announced a workforce reduction of 100 at its CCR copper refinery in Montreal. The company plans to reduce its workforce by 12% or about 300 positions to cut costs. Noranda’s posted a loss of $70 million (or 32 per share) in the recent quarter.

Barrick Gold made 72 to end at $23.85. Wheaton River Minerals saw more action than Barrick, but finished unchanged at 96. Wheaton recently reported earnings of US$2 million as revenue sank to US$915,000 in the first half of the year. The profit compares with a loss of US$717,000 on US$2 million in the first half of 2001 and reflects the sale of non-core assets, mostly in the second quarter.

The country’s remaining base metal issues were left in Noranda’s shadow. Breakwater Resources came in the closest to Noranda with more than 1.1 million shares trading to a 1.5 gain to 15.5.

Other gainers were: Inco, plus 44 to $31.24; Falconbridge, up 15 to $15.25; Teck Cominco’s B series, up 44 to $11.75; Cameco, 18 higher at $33.98; Ivanhoe Mines, plus 39 to $2.99; and Alcan, which grabbed $1.30 to hit $45.22.

Sherritt International and takeover target Fording both headed south. Sherritt to the tune of 6 to $4.26; Fording fell 16 to $32.54. Fording shunned Sherritt’s recent $29-per-share hostile takeover bid, instead tabling plans to convert to an income trust.

Canada’s junior exchange managed a small rally with advancers beating to decliners 284 to 248. The Venture Exchange S&P Composite Index closed up 4.82 points, or 0.54%, to 904.03 on a volume of 33.2 million shares.

Pan Asia Mining found a penny and closed at 3 on 1.8 million shares. The company has not maintained the requirements for a Tier 1 company listing on the exchange and has had its classification changed to a Tier 2 level.

Cardero Resources jumped 17 to $1.17 on 569,000 shares. Last month the company acquired the Olaroz silver project 230 km from the city of San Salvador de Jujuy in the province of Jujuy, northwestern Argentina. The focus of the project is the La Providencia silver deposit and the area surrounding it.

Sherwood Mining lost 1 and closed at 5 on 384,000 shares. In June, the junior explorer discovered VMS-style mineralization on its Elu property. In May, the corporation signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Miramar Mining to enable it to earn up to a 70% interest in any diamondiferous bodies discovered in the Hope Bay greenstone belt in Nunavut.