Trading Summary (August 27, 2001)

The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index gained 32.24 points, closing at 7,662.2 on Monday. Leading the way was the financial services sector, which rose 177.41 points, or 1.6%, as investors looked for value ahead of an expected rate cut of 25 basis points by the Bank of Canada on Tuesday.

The precious metals were higher across the board in New York. Most notable was platinum, which picked up US$7 to hit US$454 per oz.

The TSE Gold & Precious Minerals subindex fell 1.42%, or 69.65 points, to 4819.77, making it one of eight declining subindices. Barrick Gold led a quiet bunch of gold miners with just less than 1.1 million shares on the go. The stock fell 45 to $25.45. Placer Dome shed 40 to $16.75, Kinross Gold was off a penny at $1.29 and Hope Bay Gold fell 2 to 29.

Hope Bay posted a second-quarter loss of $666,400 (or nil per share), compared with a year-ago loss of $412,000 (nil per share). For the first half of 2001, the company’s loss tallied $1 million, up from a loss of $695,600 a year earlier.

The base-metal majors performed similarly and the metals and minerals subindex slid 6.33 points to 4220.6.

Alcan was the country’s busiest base metal issue with about 410,000 shares on the go. The Aluminum giant’s shares lost a nickel to $58.35. Other losers were Inco, off 20 to $26.70, Sherritt International, a nickel lower at $4.94, Noranda, down 1 to $16.43, and diversified miner Teck, down a quarter to $12.70.

A lonely bright spot was Falconbridge, which gained 20 to $16.70. The company announced that Falcondo, its 85%-owned nickel mining subsidiary in the Dominican Republic, will shut down its ferronickel operation for three months, due to low nickel prices and high fuel costs.

Canada’s junior exchange failed to follow through on Friday’s rally as light volume and selling pressure took center stage. The Canadian Venture Exchange dropped 4.19 points, or 0.1% to finish the day at 3,070.75. The Mining Index plunged 82.68 points, or 1.1% to close at 7,476.55.

Sultan Minerals backed off of its recent highs, down 3 on the day, to 20 with 360,000 shares traded. The company recently closed a $150,000 financing aimed at expanding the drill program over the Kena gold property near Nelson, B.C. The company ended the day at 23, up 1 on 377,000 shares.

Kelowna-based Cantex Mine Development continued to trade heavily with little impact on its share price. The Charles Fipke-led company ended the day flat at 8 on 200,000 shares. Cantex recently tabled an update on its geochemical activities over the Wadi Qutabah nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum-palladium prospect in Yemen.

Shares in Radius Explorations slid to a level not seen in several months, down 11, to 75 on a volume of 146,500. The Simon Ridgway-led junior is currently drilling the Tambor gold property in Guatemala. The first seven holes into the Lupita target returned broad intervals of low-grade (0.7-to-2.2 grams gold) mineralization.

New Blue Ribbon Resources tacked on 1 to 8 on 224,000 shares. The Edmonton-based junior has been funding BHP’s work on the Moose diamond property in Manitoba.