Trading Summary (July 12, 2001)

The rebound took two days rather than one, but the Toronto Stock Exchange finally clawed back its Tuesday loss with a gain of 100.02 points, closing at 7,670.80.

The golds gave back a bit of their Wednesday gains, shedding 36.40 points to finish at 4,607.86, but the metals and minerals group packed on 117.38 points — a full 2.7% of value — to end the day at 4,531.62.

The metal markets were mixed as gold settled back to the US$266 range in New York trading after an initial morning fix price of US$267.65 in London. The base metals were relatively steady, with the only major move a fall of US$9.50 per tonne for copper, which ended the LME ring session at US$1,547.

The gold issues were led downward by Meridian Gold, which slid 50 to $10.90, and Agnico Eagle Mines, which was off 58 at $13.42.

Barrick Gold was the lone winner among the bigger gold issues, adding a nickel to close at $23.50. Franco-Nevada Mining was down 30 at $20 and Placer Dome was off 15 at $15.75.

Teck’s B shares continue to trade heavily, with 3.5 million of them moving on Thursday. The issues fell 20 to close at $12, a matter not helped by subsidiary (and merger partner) Cominco’s 24 slide to $27.22. The zinc producer also led volume in the base metals group with 628,000 shares changing hands.

Sherritt International reversed a slide of several days’ duration, tacking on 23 to finish trading at $5.15. Alcan powered the rise in the index with a gain of $2.30 bringing it to $66.20.

The nickel producers were both up smartly, Inco rising 45 to a close of $27.10 and Falconbridge climbing 29 to end the day at $16.69. The mid-tier mining issues also had a good day with Aur Resources up 10 at $2.70, LionOre Mining up 8 at $2.20 and Cameco up 46 at $33.96.

Most active trader among the Toronto junior issues was Macmillan Gold, which announced last week that it would be entering the recycling business through a group called Virtual Resources. It was up half a cent at 12 on 798,000 shares. Another heavily traded junior issue was Opawica Explorations, which earlier this week announced it was optioning two properties in the Fraserdale igneous complex near Fraserdale, Ont., considered prospective for platinum-group elements.

A late-day rally in resource-related issues propelled Canada’s junior exchange slightly higher. The Canadian Venture Exchange managed to tack on 0.17 of a point to finish the day at 3,125.88. The Mining Index gained 8.20 points, or 0.1%, to close at 7,349.91.

Poplar Resources added 2 to 19 with over 1.3 million shares changing hands. The junior’s 65%-owned subsidiary, North Star Diamonds, recently completed a geophysical survey over the Bottenbacken polymetallic project in central Sweden. A letter of intent has been signed which would see Poplar take 100% of the subsidiary.

Calgary-based Anglo Minerals tacked on 2 to 15 on 158,500 shares. The company has reaped modest gains from the energy shortage with a 5% carried interest in the Northern Lights oil sands project, 23,040 acres of oil sands permits and a 49% interest in 138,240 acres of coal permits.

Making a nice percentage move, Idaho Consolidated Metals gained 20 to close at $1.05 on 104,400 shares. Fellow junior First Choice Industries recently signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire a 40% interest in Idaho’s 124 unpatented claims, which cover the northwestern portion of the Stillwater complex in Montana. First Choice ended the day up 5 to 24 on a moderate 37,000 shares.

Radius Exploration ended the day at $1.02, down 3 on 50,000 shares. The junior has traded in a narrow range ahead of drill results from the El Tambor gold property in Guatemala.

Starfield Resources continued to drift lower ahead of further developments from the Ferguson Lake nickel-copper-platinum-palladium property in Nunavut. The junior has two rigs turning, with a third slated to start next month. Starfield ended the day at 55, down 2 on 160,500 shares.