WESTERN MARKETS AND INVESTMENT NEWS – WESTERN MARKETS — South Voisey’s Bay juniors’ stocks hit hard

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index was off 1.5%, or 9.26 points, closing at 614.57 over the holiday-shortened report period ended May 19. The mining index slipped 10.07 points, or 2.1%, to finish at 464.9. Meanwhile, the combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange closed at 2,303.19, down 20.89 points, or 0.9%.

South Voisey’s Bay-area players were hit hard over the report period.

Donner Minerals dropped 91cents to $1.66, Alberta-listed Northern Abitibi Mining shed 54cents to close at 95cents, Cypress Minerals fell 16cents to 42cents, Major General Resources closed down 8cents at 37cents and Mandorin Goldfields slipped 4cents to finish at 13cents. Preliminary visual results from the first two holes of a planned 45-hole program on the Donner-Northern Abitibi joint-venture property fell short of market expectations. Teck is the operator of the program and has the right to earn half of Donner’s interest in any of its South Voisey’s Bay holdings. The total budget for this year’s exploration program at South Voisey’s Bay is $14.8 million.

Mar-West Resources announced promising drill results from the first two holes on its 100%-held Cerro Blanco hot spring gold prospect in southeastern Guatemala. The issue closed up 30cents at $1.40.

Alberta-listed Sepik Gold was up 8cents at 72cents. The company has arranged a brokered private placement of up to 2 million special warrants at 50cents each, for gross proceeds of up to $1 million. Some proceeds will be used to continue exploration in Papua New Guinea.

Anzex Resources closed at $2.28, for a gain of 44cents. The company has commenced drilling the first of three 1,000-metre-long holes on the Longwood platinum project on New Zealand’s South Island. Anzex also reports that it has applied for all the known and available platinum-bearing layered intrusive complexes throughout the island.

Labrador International Mining was off 19cents at 28cents after cancelling a special warrant financing and renegotiating a brokered private placement of 6 million special warrants at 22.5cents each, for gross proceeds of $1.35 million. Funds will be used to finance Voisey’s Bay work, as well as for property acquisitions and exploration elsewhere.

Camnor Resources added to a 20-sq.-mile property package optioned from Golden Phoenix Minerals in Alaska’s Bonnifield district by staking six new properties totalling 22 sq. miles. Field work is expected to begin in June.

Camnor slipped 2cents, closing at 22cents.

YGC Resources finished at 17cents, up 2cents, after announcing that a $750,000 program would begin in early June on the Wolf property in the Yukon. Operator Atna Resources can earn a 65% interest in the property.

Follow-up drilling will explore massive sulphide mineralization intersected last fall. The discovery hole intersected a true width of 25.2 metres averaging 6.9% zinc, 2.8% lead and 138.6 grams silver.