Vancouver Stock Exchange Tone appears positive

Despite lower gold prices and a stronger Canadian dollar, there is a much more positive tone to the Vancouver market this week. Brokerage month-end, which has tended to depress stocks recently, is no longer a factor so it should be clear sailing for another month. With the Dow Jones at its post-crash high and Toronto reflecting the financial health of our commodity producers, 1988 is shaping up to be a good year.

At long last something besides gold is occupying people’s minds. Nickel and copper are often hot topics at industry gatherings and base metals are no longer being promoted in terms of their “gold equivalent.” Let’s face it, in recent years these metals haven’t been getting much respect. (Say something nice about nickel today, will you).

Moving higher again today, the VSE index posted a 3.7 point increase to 1080.4 with advancing issues well ahead of decliners in moderately active volume. Doron Explorations, which last month was negotiating an option agreement for its Cody Ridge property near Faro, Yukon with a major, climbed 15 cents to $1.40 and Rex Silver Mines was 4 cents higher at $1.22. Rex is trying to find an assay method that will accurately analyze samples from its Scoria property in northern Arizona.

Nuspar Resources, which always seems to be looking at a new process to recover gold, silver, and of course platinum group metals from one of its Vancouver Island properties, was also ahead 4 cents to 34 cents .

The news maker over our report was North American Metals (see front page story) which is the subject of a takeover bid by Homestake Mining. The stock was 75 cents stronger at $3.90, just 10 cents lower than Homestake’s offer. Ther e is speculation the bidding price could reach the $4.50-$5.00 range, not necessarily from Homestake.

In much lower volume, Huldra Silver climbed 85 cents to $2.50 after it announced good depth continuity to the C vein at its Treasure Mountain property near Hope, B.C. while Gold Texas shot up 30 cents to $4.50. Echo Bay has made what appears to be a significant gold discovery on Gold Texas Granny and Key properties in Washington State. Two big players in the Skyline area of northwestern, B.C., inched closer together. Skyline Explorations dropped $1.50 to an $8.75 bid and Delaware Resource Corp tumbled 88 cents to $8.50. The former is developing a mine and the latter expects to later this year.