Trading Summary (June 26, 2001)

The Toronto Stock Exchange continued lower on Tuesday with more profit warnings south of the border. By the end of the trading day, the 300 composite index was off 85.69 points, or 1.1%, at 7,612. Leading the slide was the technology-heavy industrial products subindex, which dropped 110.82 points, or 2.6%. The gold and precious mineral subgroup gained 39.21 points while the metals and minerals subindex rose 54.13 points, or 1.3%.

Barrick Gold remained in investors’ sights with more than 4.4 million shares traded. The stock fell another 26 to $23.54, a day after announcing plans for a US$2.3-billion deal to acquire U.S. rival Homestake Mining. Placer Dome joined Barrick on the TSE’s most active list with about 2.7 million shares crossing the floor on their way to a 31 rise to $16.20. Diversified miner Teck was the other active miner with 2.3 million of its B series shares traded. The issue lost 24 to $12.75.

Other decent gains among the golds were put in by Kinross Gold, up 7, or 5.2%, to $1.41, Meridian Gold, 75, or 6%, higher at $13.25, Viceroy Resources, up 3 pennies, or 12%, to 28, Bema Gold, up 6, or 13.3%, to 51, and Dayton Mining, up a nickel, or 8.3%, to 65.

Winners among the base metal issues were hard to come by. Inco gained 49 to $25.64, Falconbridge rose 17 to $16.67 and Alcan tacked on $1.11 to hit $61.70. On the flip side, Sherritt International fell 15 to $4.90, Cominco dropped 51 to $28.60, Aur Resources shed 6 to $2.84 and Breakwater Resources slid a penny to $1.04. Noranda was unchanged at $16.60.

Noranda, one of the world’s largest producers of zinc and nickel, has announced that its shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol NRD.

Greater Lenora Resources jumped another 13, or 24%, to 67 on its second straight day of impressive gains and took a spot as one of the TSE’s top percentage gainers. On Monday, the junior announced the discovery of massive sulphides in bedrock on the Stares-Calvert property, 50 km west of Thunder Bay, Ont.

Canada’s junior exchange failed to sustain early attempts at a rally as all indexes ended the day in the red. The Canadian Venture Exchange dropped 25.18 points, or 0.8%, to finish the day at 3,230.93. The Mining Index followed suit, losing 59.70 points, or 0.8%, to close at 7,389.49.

Atacama Minerals topped the most actively traded chart among junior explorers, ending the day down 3 to 51 on 791,500 shares. The company recently started production at its Aguas Blancas iodine project in northern Chile.

RJK Explorations gave back some of yesterday’s strong gains, losing 3 to 47 on 332,000 shares. The company’s stock soared on news that the bedrock source of high-grade base metal boulders has been discovered on the Stares property in Ontario.

Radius Exploration ended the day at 96, up 1 on 96,500 shares. The junior is waiting for the completion of a $2-million financing by South African-based Goldfields before drill-testing the El Tambor gold property in Guatemala.

Seahawk Minerals tacked on 20 to 90 on a low 21,500 shares. The company got a boost after announcing the first emerald sale from its Piteiras property in Brazil.

Starfield Resources continued to trade in a narrow range ahead of further developments from the Ferguson Like nickel-copper-platinum-palladium property in Nunavut. The junior has two rigs turning and a third is slated to start next month. Starfield ended the day flat at 65 on 72,000 shares.