STOCK MARKETS — Heavy trading reported among Western juniors

With more than five months remaining in 1996. Strong trading in junior resource stocks pushed the Vancouver Stock Exchange to an all-time annual record high for the value of shares traded. The previous record of $6.8 billion was set at the end of 1993.

Western markets, however, continued their free fall over the report period ended July 9. The Vancouver Stock Exchange resource index fell 142.36 points, closing at 2,054.06, while the composite index lost 50.46 points to finish at 1,175.73.

Spooked by the release of preliminary drill results from the Miguela property in Bolivia, investors bailed out of Essex Resource, plunging the issue to $1.81, for a loss of $1.44.

Booker Gold Explorations shaved off 70 cents at $3.05 after announcing assay results for hole 96-36 from the Hearne Hill project, northeast of Smithers, B.C. An 870-ft. interval averaged 0.21% copper and 0.09 gram gold per tonne, including 90 ft. grading 0.48% copper and 0.16 gram gold.

Deep drill hole 96-14, which tested the Valley target on the Okak property in Labrador, was halted in anorthosite gabbro at 1,456 ft. Partners Castle Rock Exploration and United Compass Resources report that magnetite occurs throughout the hole and may account for the geophysical magnetic anomaly.

Castle Rock slipped 21 cents to close at 89 cents, while United Compass closed down 37 cents at $1.13.

The town of Nain, Labrador, has granted NDT Ventures the required permitting to begin a 15-hole drill program on Project 44. NDT is earning a 51% interest in the project from Alberta-listed Takla Star Resources. Drilling will test two zones of sulphide mineralization, the Unity and Valley, and correlating geophysical conductors. Surface sampling on the western end of the Unity zone returned an average 0.96% nickel, 1.16% copper and 0.146% cobalt over a 7-metre width. NDT closed down 45 cents at $3.20, while Takla Star finished at $6.90 for a loss of $1.45.

The release of further drill results from the Shingle Gulch property in northern New Brunswick met with a 24 cents slide for Chapleau Resources, closing at 70 cents. Hole 21 intersected a sulphide lens returning a 9.8-ft interval grading 0.054 oz. gold, 0.76% zinc, 0.4% lead and 0.03% copper, plus a 55.8-ft. interval grading 1.57% zinc, 0.61% lead and 0.03% copper. Chapleau is earning a half interest from Alberta-listed PGE Resources, which closed up 50 cents at $5 on light trading.

Minefinders was up 5 cents at $2.05 on the announcement that it was entering into an alliance with Toronto-listed Echo Bay Mines. By subscribing to a private placement in Minefinders of 400,000 units at a price of $2.50 each, Echo Bay will hold the right to earn a 60% interest in the 4,700-hectare Dolores gold-silver property, situated in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. A drilling program will begin shortly on a primary target exceeding 3,300 ft.

of strike length. Sampling across the zone has yielded 49 ft. of 0.091 oz.

gold, 328 ft. of 0.021 oz. (including 145 ft. of 0.032 oz.), 180 ft. of 0.039 oz. and 225 ft. of 0.025 oz. (including 82 ft. of 0.06 oz.)

A preliminary 8-hole, reverse-circulation drill program was recently completed by Francisco Gold’s Irish joint-venture partner, Adola Gold, on the Dura property in Sonora state, Mexico. Anomalous gold values were intersected in six of the holes, which tested three zones of interest over a strike length of 300 metres. Values of 0.2-2.6 grams gold were encountered over intervals of 2-4 metres. Francisco slipped 95 cents to close at $6.75.

Assay results from recent drilling by partners Molycor Gold and Verdstone Gold at the Crow-Rea property in the Okanagan area of British Columbia included 15 metres of 0.3% molybdenite in hole 68 and 3 metres of 0.38% molybdenite in hole 69. Molycor closed down 8 cents at $1.77, while Verdstone was up 2 cents at $1.02.

Results from four additional drill holes on the Mexican Hat property in Cochise Cty., Ariz., included 10 ft. of 0.05 oz. in hole 6, 25 ft. of 0.02 oz. in hole 7, 40 ft. of 0.04 oz. in hole 8 and 195 ft. of 0.013 oz.

(including 35 ft. of 0.03 oz.) in hole 9. Kalahari Resources, which can earn up to a 60% interest, dropped 26 cents to 64 cents.