Trading Summary (April 24, 2001)

Only three of the Toronto Stock Exchange‘s 14 subindexes managed to finish in the black on Tuesday as the 300 composite index slipped 38.1 points to 7,891.7. One of the gainers was the Gold & Precious Minerals subgroup, which led the way with an 86.4-point, or 1.9%, increase. The base metal issues shed 4.33 points.

Heavier hitters on the gold index were slightly higher on the day. Barrick Gold gained 50 to finish at $24.35, Placer Dome rose 15 to $14.85 and Franco-Nevada Mining added 6 to hit $18.26. Among the smaller producers, Kinross Gold gained 4 to 81 and Goldcorp rose 45 to $12.80.

Agnico-Eagle Mines gained 30 to reach $10.85. The company announced a first-quarter loss of US$300,000 on revenue of US$20.8 million. It is contemplating a further expansion of its LaRonde mill to 7,000 tonnes per day after a successful exploration program and expansion to 5,000 tonnes per day.

Teck’s B series led the base metal issues by a wide margin with almost 4.5 million shares on the go. The issue gained 80 to $17.60. Cominco, owned 51% by Teck, reported surging earnings. During the first quarter of 2001, the company earned $83 million, or 97 per share, up significantly from the year-ago $20 million, (23 per share). The increase was due to electricity sales to the power-starved western United States. For its part, Cominco fell $1.15 to $30.80.

Another base metal miner on the slide was Noranda, which fell 60 to $16.40. Noranda posted first-quarter earnings of $24 million (or 8 per share), compared with a year-ago $68 million (27 per share). Sales revenues between the two periods slipped to $1.6 billion from $1.8 billion. The company figures the strike at Sudbury cut into first-quarter net income by about $30 million.

Canada’s junior exchange lacked direction as all indexes ended the day virtually unchanged.The Canadian Ventures Exchange dropped 4.01 points, or 0.1%, to finish the day at 3,036.74. The mining index lost 14.66 points, or 0.2%, to close at 6,142.78.

Brasilca Mining failed to get a boost from news that Teck and Inco have teamed up to explore the junior’s Tucum iron oxide-copper-gold concession in Brazil. The company ended the day flat at 15 on 696,200 shares.

Investors bid up shares in Philex Gold following the release of results from three additional holes into the Boyongan copper-gold prospect in the Philippines. Shares of the junior nearly doubled before settling back at $1.55, up 60 on 435,250 shares.

Mindoro Resources went along for the ride, picking up 10 to close at 20 on a light 27,000 shares. The company holds ground near Philex’s discovery.

Rockwell Ventures bounced back from yesterday’s selloff, climbing 2 to 52 on a moderate 50,000 shares. The junior is drilling the Pedra Branca platinum-palladium project in Brazil.