Trading Summary (August 01, 2001)

The Toronto Stock Exchange posted a 51.71-point gain to end at 7,741.4 on Monday. Leading the way was the consumer products subindex, which rose 249.8 points, or 1.5%. By the end of the trading day, just three of the 14 TSE subindexes were in the red. Both the gold and precious minerals and metal and minerals subgroups were in that number. The golds fell 6.69 points. The base metal issues shed 37.89 points, or nearly 1%.

Palladium put in its second straight day of gains after plummeting US$17 per oz. on Monday. It gained another US$8 per oz. to hit US$460 per oz. Gold edged up US90 to US$267.90 per oz., silver was unchanged at US$4.22 per oz. and platinum slipped US$2 to US$470 per oz.

The base metal miners were led by Boliden, which was unchanged as more than 2 million shares crossed the floor. Teck saw just more than 1.3 million shares change hands as the stock gained 8 to $11.75. Others on the rise included Inco, up 38 to $26.12, and Sherritt International, up 19 to $5.14. Heading the other way was Alcan, which fell $1.03 to $56.52. Alcan announced that it had cut its posted U.S. transaction prices for August by US2 per lb. for 99.7% remelt ingot to US72 per lb. and 6063 extrusion billet to US82 per lb.

Placer Dome was Canada’s most active gold miner, losing a dime to $15.25 with more than 1.1 million shares traded. Barrick Gold was unchanged at $22.70 on 911,577 shares. Cambior shed 2 to 65. The company announced that its largest shareholder, Japan’s Jipangu, agreed to convert the remaining US$3.7-million due on a mortgage for the Niobec mine into an increased stake in Cambior.

Canada’s junior exchange sustained yesterday’s late day rally, led by a triple-digit gain in the Mining Index. The Canadian Venture Exchange tacked on 27.03 points, or 0.9%, to finish the day at 3,090.04. The Mining Index surged 113.84 points, or 1.6%, to close at 7,435.30.

Conquistador Mines ended the day flat at 1 on 723,000 shares. The junior reported that it has been unable to attain funding for its Colombian operations and, as a result, a liquidator has been appointed to attend to the dissolution of Corona Goldfields S.A. Conquistador does not expect to receive any proceeds from the liquidation.

Vital Pacific Resources surged 2 to 5 on a strong 267,000 shares. In April, the company inked a deal to earn up to a 100% stake in the Wekusko Lake gold property in the Snow Lake Region of Manitoba.

Shares in Radius Explorations ended the day lower at $1.01, down 8 on a light volume. The Simon Ridgway-led junior recently tabled the results from the first four holes into the Lupita zone on the Tambor gold property in Guatemala. Despite hitting broad zones of 1-2 grams gold per tonne, stock in the company has drifted lower.

Rich Minerals continued to move upwards, gaining 10 to close at 34 on 297,000 shares. The junior recently formed Rich Mining, a U.S. corporation, as a wholly owned subsidiary with the mandate to develop national and international exploration and mining operations.

Starfield Resources continued to move lower, following a significant increase in the tonnage at its Ferguson Lake low-grade nickel-copper-platinum-palladium property in Nunavut. Shares in the company lost 3 on the day to close at 51 on a volume of 74,500.