Vancouver Stock Exchange (September 23, 1991)

Gold offered little help to the market during the week ended Sept. 17. Sentiment for the yellow metal remained decidedly negative with many pundits calling for further weakness from the US$345-per-oz. level.

The resource index slid by more than 16 points to finish at 533.66 while the composite index slipped by 2.48 points and closed at 564.35. Cove Energy and Springer Resources took top volume positions with 3.1 million and 2.2 million shares traded respectively. Recent drilling on the companies’ Coul 3 claim block in the Eskay Creek area of northwestern British Columbia intersected 16.2 ft. grading 0.18 oz. gold and 4.54 oz. silver per ton. Granges is earning a 50% interest in the ground and plans to drill an additional 10 holes to test a 4,000-ft.-long zone of interest. Springer finished up 35 cents at 47 cents while Cove added 12 cents to close at 16 cents.

Taseko Mines remained among the top traders by value, averaging in the order of $700,000 per day. The issue hit a high of $8.38 before closing at $7.88 for a gain of 38 cents. The company released assay results for two more holes at its Fish Lake deposit southwest of Williams Lake, B.C. The first three holes from this year’s drilling program intersected an average of 2,625 ft. grading 0.36% copper and 0.019 oz. gold.

The rumor of a $9-per-share offer for Fairbanks Gold proved overly optimistic after Amax Gold announced a deal worth $6-7 per share. The issue plunged $2 on the news of the deal before rebounding to $5.75 for a loss of $1.25. Under the offer, one Fairbanks share is exchangeable for half an Amax Gold share plus a quarter of a warrant to buy an additional share at US$21. The release of nine holes from the South Kemess property in north-central British Columbia did not seem to help 60-40 owners El Condor Resources and St. Philips Resources. The holes intersected an average of 262.3 ft. grading 0.28% copper and 0.024 oz. gold. El Condor lost 55 cents to close at $4.05 while St. Philips slipped 28 cents to finish at $1.65.

News that Galico Resources and Golden Ring Resources are considering diversifying into non-mining ventures helped both issues. Galico closed up 12 cents at 58 cents while Golden Ring added 27 cents to finish at 57 cents. Jordex Resources took a hit, dropping 45 cents to $2.65. The company acquired all of the issued shares of Moraga Resources earlier this year and is active in both Venezuela and Bolivia.

The share price of Crown Resources, under steady erosion the past few weeks from the $11 level, slipped an additional 38 cents to $8.88. The company attributes the drop to a lacklustre gold market.