CDNX slides further into bear country (March 04, 2002)

Vancouver — Canada’s junior exchange lost ground over the week ended Feb. 26. The Standard & Poor’s-CDNX composite index dropped 11.3 points, or 1%, to close at 1105.65.

Madison Enterprises was the week’s volume leader. The cash-strapped junior, which is slated to hold its annual meeting on April 17, lost 4 and closed at 10 with 1.8 million shares traded. Madison holds the Mt. Kare gold deposit in Papua New Guinea.

Canabrava Diamond was close on the heels of Madison with a volume of 1.7 million shares. The company added 1 to its value and closed the week at 37. Canabrava, along with partner Paramount Ventures & Finance, has begun drilling the Groundhog project in northern Ontario. Shares in Paramount closed at 9, down 6 on just over 1 million shares traded.

National Gold dropped 9 to close at 36 on a volume of 1.5 million shares. The junior announced a $660,000 financing comprising 2.2 million units priced at 30 each. Meanwhile, Alamos Minerals is drilling and earning a stake in National Gold’s Salamandra gold property in Mexico. Alamos dropped a penny to close at 42 on 1.3 million shares.

TNR Resources added 2 to its value and finished at 22 on a 1.4 million shares. The stock jumped on news of a deal with Toronto-listed NovaGold Resources to earn a half-interest in the Rock Creek and Shotgun gold deposits in Alaska.

Donner Minerals tacked on 3 to close at 42 with 1.3 million shares crossing the floor. The company has entered into an option agreement with Toronto-listed Falconbridge to earn up to a 50% stake in the Stephens Lake nickel property in Manitoba’s Thompson nickel belt. Donner must spend $5 million on exploration over five years (at least $1 million per year). Falconbridge will contribute to exploration funds by purchasing $1.75 million worth of Donner’s stock over five years by way of private placements.

Mano River Resources ended the week down 4 to 6 on a volume of 1.2 million shares. The junior has kicked off a diamond exploration program in the Kono district of Sierra Leone.

Bouncing back from the previous week’s slide was Starfield Resources, which found a nickel to close at 96 on the exchange of 1.2 million shares. The company is about to resume drilling on the Ferguson Lake nickel-copper-platinum-palladium property in Nunavut. At a 1% copper-nickel cutoff grade, the project hosts a resource of 60.1 million tonnes grading 0.59% nickel and 0.93% copper, plus 1.32 grams palladium and 0.19 gram platinum per tonne.

AntOro Resources dropped a penny to close at 10 with just over 1 million shares traded. The company announced a $260,000 financing and inked a purchase option agreement with Les Mines J.A.G. and Les Placement SPEL on their jointly owned silica property in Ste-Clotilde, Que.

Samex Mining tacked on 3 to close at 17 on a volume of 855,000 shares. The company has raised $300,000 to advance gold properties in Bolivia.

Rubicon Minerals closed up 9 to an even $1 following the swapping of 746,000 shares. The junior staked and optioned 500 claim units in east-central Newfoundland.