Trading Summary (May 13, 2003)

Toronto’s gold stocks dumped 5.33 points or more than 3% to end Tuesday’s trading session at 159.27. The slide was helped out by a US$1.30 drop in the price of the yellow metal to US$349.90 per oz. in New York. The diversified miners were dragged along, as were most of the other subindices, to a 0.45-point loss to 119.04 points. Overall, the S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 14.59 points to 6,702.91.

Geomaque Explorations topped the miners again, returning most of Monday’s gains with about 4.4 million shares traded. The issue ended 1.5 cheaper at 7. Highlights from recent drilling on the Tasiast gold property in Mauritania, West Africa, range between 4 and 20 grams gold over intervals between 4 and 42 metres. The remaining holes from the 155 reverse-circulation infill drilling program returned slightly lower grades over smaller intervals.

Northern Orion Explorations placed a distant second, dropping 1.5 to $16 on 2.2 million shares. On Friday, the company said it has closed its acquisition of BHP Billiton’s 72% interest in the Agua Rica copper-gold-molybdenum project in Argentina. Northern Orion now owns the project outright. Orion paid US$3.6 million on closing; another US$9.0 million is due by June 30, 2005. Northern Orion is also busy wrapping up its of a 12.5% interest of the Bajo de la Alumbrera copper- gold mine about 34 km to the west. That deal is expected to close by June 23, 2003.

Canada’s major gold producers found themselves even further down the volume list. Kinross Gold was the busiest, with 2.1 million shares trading 60 lower to $8.34; Barrick Gold was next ending 67 lighter at $23.48; Placer Dome finished 42 cheaper at $14.59.

Silver producer Pan American Silver shed 23 to end the day at $9.47 with 67,414 shares traded. On Tuesday, Pan Am reported a first-quarter net loss of US$1.1 million (or 2 per share), compared with a year-ago net loss of US$1.3 million (3 per share).

Nickel miner Inco led a quiet bunch of base metal miners, dropping 19 to $26.18 with just more fewer than 655,700 shares traded. Most of the others put in similar losses.

Canada’s junior exchange gave back a portion of yesterday’s gains. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index lost 1.71 points, or 0.16% and closed at 1,068.40.

RJK Explorations ended the session flat at 20 on 844,000 shares. R.J. Kasner Co. Ltd., a shareholder recently sold 800,000 Class A Subordinate Voting Shares at a price of 17 per share. The proceeds from the sale will be used to complete a private placement of up to 800,000 units at a price of 17 per unit. The junior has been working the Wedge property in the Matawin gold belt near Shebandowan, Ontario. Hole 1 returned 5.89 grams gold over 3.03 metres.

Shares in Spider Resources continued to trade at a hectic pace. The junior recently reported drill results from the Spider #3 massive sulphide project in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario. Hole 6 drilled below the previously reported massive sulphides in the first two holes intersecting 2.9% Copper and 0.45% zinc over 5.6 metres and a deeper zinc-rich section running 5.4% zinc and 0.3% copper over 9.65 metres. Holes 3 and 4 were drilled 100 metres to the northeast with hole 3 yielding 5.25% zinc and 0.58% copper over 3.95 metres. Hole 4 testing the down dip continuation of the mineralization intersecting 2.41% zinc and 0.495% copper over 8.7 metres. Spider ended the day down a penny at 10 on nearly 1.7 million shares.

Cantex Mine Development added 1 to close at 4 on 646,000 shares. The Charles Fipke led junior has been attempting to advance both gold and base metal projects in Yemen.