LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (November 04, 1991)

Your story “Ownership puzzle confounds efforts to develop Holloway” (T.N.M., Oct. 14/91) mentions that the Lightning zone is the best hope for a new mine in eastern Canada.

You probably forgot the Moss Lake property in northern Ontario owned by Storimin Exploration and Tandem Resources.

This property hosts preliminary reserves of 2.5 million oz. gold, with copper and silver traces, and is open in all directions. Only financing postponed the development of this future producer.

Andre Vezina

Boischatel, Que.

To Egizio Bianchini and Hebert Drechsler (letter to the editor, T.N.M., Oct. 21/91), I would make the same comment: there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Successful hedging programs I have seen took advantage of rising price trends to lock in unexpectedly favorable margins

and hope for even higher prices for spot market sales. Conversely, a company can live with depressed prices by using “cheap” futures to fulfil commitments.

A smart program will be mindful of seasonal trends and historical parameters, as future markets sometimes can’t see the forest through the trees. Colin Smith

Chicago

In your Insider Trading column (T.N.M., Oct. 28/91), you stated that our company, St Andrew Goldfields, had to suspend operations in June at our Stock Twp. gold mine in northern Ontario.

Please find attached a press release dated June 14 stating clearly that the underground operations will be temporarily suspended for two months only. However, during this 2-month suspension, the mill will be working at full capacity.

For your information, underground operations resumed by mid-August and at present are fully operational. We would kindly ask you to publish a correcting statement as your current statement implies that St Andrew suspended operations, which was never the case.

Herbert Gasser

President

St Andrew Goldfields

Your Odds n’ Sods article (T.N.M., Oct. 14/91) about Island Lake, Man., brought back bittersweet memories.

During 1985-87, Bighorn Development and Wydmar Development spent more than $6 million exploring for gold on Island Lake.

While the results were encouraging (to the point of construction of a 25-ton-per-day pilot mill), neither of the two companies was able to raise funds to do an underground bulk sample after the 1987 stock market crash. Without the bulk sample, the two companies were unable to secure financing to place the property into production and were delisted from the Vancouver Stock Exchange. There may be more sunken treasure at Island Lake hidden in the ground, but given the current state of the mining industry in Canada, I don’t think we’ll ever know.

James Gerber

Lansing, Mich.