Vancouver Stock Exchange New listings trade heavily on

With interest rates trending higher and gold slipping below $440 (US), many investors are staying on the sidelines until some positive news emerges. Brokerage month-end has compounded matters further and one broker accurately describes the market as “sloppy.”

By presstime the VSE index was off 3.7 points to 1072.8 with decliners outpacing advances by almost two to one. Three new listings accounted for a large part of early trading volume: Tigris Minerals traded at 53 cents on 557,500 shares, Rattler Resources sold for 40 cents in slightly lower volume, and Goldways Resources traded at $1.05.

A number of stocks posted significant gains including Esperanza Explorations which was 16 cents higher at $1.21. The company recently reported 0.64 oz gold over 14.5 ft from the East Ridge zone at its Tillicum project near Burton, B.C. Construction work on a 100-ton mill has been postponed until the reserve potential of the zone has been assessed. Rule Resources was ahead 7 cents to 35 cents and Hudson Resources climbed 4 cents to 13 cents .

Over our report period, Central Crude came on strong once again, rising $1.51 to $7.38. Hemlo Gold has made a significant new discovery on Central Crude’s Eagle River property in the Mishibishu Lake area of Ontario. The region is shaping up to be a brand new gold camp.

Delaware Resources managed a 75 cents gain to $22.75 as work progresses on its SNIP project in the Skyline/Iskut River area of B.C. Skyline Explorations, which is developing a property nearby, slipped 25 cents to $15. Skyline has reclassified reserves at its Johnny Mountain property into proven and probable categories. Proven reserves now stand at 358,000 tons grading 0.78 oz gold and probable at 730,000 tons grading 0.66 oz. (It will be interesting to see how well these stand up.)

Panorama Resources, which has the Platoro gold property in Colorado under option from Union Mining, jumped 55 cents to $3.80 and Redfern Resources shot up 11 cents to $1.25. Redfern expects to be drilling its Tulsequah property later this month. Volcano Resources, a heavy trader with a turnover of 831,000 shares, was up 5 cents to 31 cents .