Trading Summary (December 07, 2001)

The Toronto Stock Exchange opened lower on Friday in the face of grim jobless numbers in Canada and the U.S. in November. Canada’s jobless rate climbed to a two-year high of 7.5% during the month; the U.S. workforce saw 331,000 non-farm jobs eliminated. By day’s end, the TSE 300 composite index popped its head above water to post a 3.13-point gain to 7,616.8. The gold sector saw the biggest percentage drop falling 1.4%. The base metal issues dropped 18.13 points to 4,133.37.

Kinross Gold topped the nation’s miners with more than 3.3 million shares changing hands. The issues fell a penny to $1.05. Franco-Nevada Mining was distant second gaining 9 to $22.99 with just less than 1.5 million shares traded. Among the remaining gold majors, Barrick Gold fell 57 to $23.78; Placer Dome shed 35 to $17.05; TVX Gold gained 2 to 64; and Cambior added 2 to hit 74.

According to the National Post, Barrick Gold will not confirm reports it has hired a financial advisor to prepare a bid for Australia’s Normandy Mining. The company has denied it will imminently launch an offer and become the third party to throw its hat in the ring for Australia’s largest gold producer.

On Friday, TVX quashed reports that circumstances that forced the company to declare force majeure at its Stratoni operation in Greece had been resolved. Also on Friday, Jipangu, a Japanese company oriented toward gold investments, announced that it would boost its stake in Cambior. The Japanese firm is already Cambior’s largest shareholder.

The busiest base metal miner was Teck Cominco, which gained 55 to $11.95. Ongoing drilling by the company has cut impressive gold-bearing skarn mineralization on its 72% held Morelos North Reserve property in Mexico’s Guerrero state.

Noranda was next in line with about 1.3 million shares on the go. The stock fell 19 to $14.37. Inco gained 24 to $26.59; Falconbridge lost 15 to $15.85; Aur Resources shed 6 to $3.10; and Alcan dropped 81 to $38.75.

Falconbridge and Anglo American recently announced that it has postponed a planned expansion of milling capacity at the Collahuasi copper-zinc mine in Chile until slumping copper prices improve. The partners haven’t yet decided whether to curtail output in 2002.

Aur announced on Friday that it intends to buy the Duck Pond copper-zinc project in central Newfoundland from partners Queenston Mining and Thundermin Resources. For their parts, Thundermin soared 1.5 or about 19% 9.5 while Queenston was unchanged at 32.

Canada’s junior exchange ended the trading week higher led by surging technology issues. The Canadian Venture Exchange ended the day up 38.68 points, or 1.2% to close at 3161.67. The Mining Index tacked on 45.88 points, or 0.6% to close at 8,076.24.

Chapleau Resources continued to trade heavily on the back of the identification of a third tantalum target on its Kougarok property in Alaska. The Cranbrook-based junior ended the week flat at 46 on 425,000 shares.

Shares in Aurora Platinum soared 53 to $3.23 on a volume of 130,590. Stock in the junior has been running up over the past two weeks. The company has several active nickel-copper-platinum-palladium properties in Ontario and Quebec and is currently drilling its Nickel Lake prospect on the Foy property near Sudbury.

Radius Exploration tacked on 4 to end the day at 26 on 255,000 shares. The Simon Ridgeway-led company recently inked a deal allowing South African-based Gold Fields to earn up to a 70% stake in a portion of its Tambor gold property in Guatemala.

Shares of Andean American Mining remained steady at 43 on a volume of 131,600. The company is currently running a test pilot plant at its Santa Rosa gold property in Peru. By early next year the company envisions a 3,250-tonne-per-day gold operation.