Trading Summary (February 18, 2002)

The Toronto Stock Exchange‘s gold issues continued lower on Monday dropping 84.42 points or 1.4% to 5,994.56. The base metal miners followed the lead sliding 20.53 points to 4,558.1. Heading the other way were the tech stocks, which gained 50.02 points to help the TSE 300 composite index add 43.3 points to close at 7,558.6. In the end eight of the TSE’s fourteen subindices ended in the black.

TVX Gold was the nation’s busiest gold miner with just more than 1.8 million shares on the go as U.S. investors enjoyed a day off in honour of President’s Day. TVX finished a penny higher at $1.16. Placer Dome was the next gold miner in line falling $1.03 to $18.80. Placer recently posted a US$29-million profit during the fourth quarter, but US$301 million in writedowns pushed the miner US$133 million into the red for the year. Kinross Gold grabbed the bronze medal with just fewer than 1.2 million shares on the move. The issue shed 4 to $1.60.

In the lower ranks, Miramar Mining and Hope Bay Gold made news agreeing to combine the two companies, they’ve been partnered at the Hope Bay gold project in Nunavut since 1999. Miramar slipped a dime to $1.20 and Hope Bay fell a penny to 34.

Also making a deal on the day, NovaGold lost 13 to $4.27. NovaGold is focussed on completing a full feasibility study over the 13-million-oz. Donlin Creek gold deposit in Alaska.

The base metal majors were quiet but lower across the board. Noranda saw the most action with just more than 207,500 shares traded. The issue dropped a dime to $16.65. Inco fell 23 to $29.35; Falconbridge slid 17 to $17.321; and Teck Cominco’s B series lost 17 to $14.01.

Canada’s junior exchange started the trading week off by moving lower on very light volume. The S&P-CDNX Composite Index dropped 7.98 points, or 0.7% to close at 1132.63.

National Gold topped the most actively traded chart among junior explorers gaining 2 to close at 39 on nearly 1.2 1 million shares. The junior’s joint venture partner Alamos Minerals is drilling the Salamandra gold property in Mexico. The partners have their sights on developing the Estrella zone. Alamos ended the day at a 52-week high of 45, up 3 on the day.

Golconda Resources added 2 to close at 32 on 423,000 shares. The company is currently drilling the Shulin Lake property in Alaska, where previous drill intercepts cut small tuff fractions and grains of olivine, pyroxene, eclogitic garnets and diamond stability field chromites.

TNR Resources added 10 on news that it inked a deal with Toronto-listed NovaGold Resources to earn a 50% stake in the Rock Creek and Shotgun gold deposits in Alaska. The junior ended the day at 24 on 813,300 shares.

Samex Mining continued to trade heavily. Stock in the junior ended the day flat at 18 on 236,000 shares. Samex is currently seeking financing for the Eskapa polymetallic project in Chile.