Mountain Province soars on release of diamond counts

Spooked by more dreary economic figures down south, sellers outpaced buyers here at home to leave the broad market 201.79 points behind. The Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index finished the holiday-shortened Aug. 28-Sept. 3 report period at 6,453.50 points.

Bullion dealers, overjoyed by the market news, pushed gold up US$1.75 to a London fix of US$312.70 per oz. on the morning of Sept. 4. That enthusiasm did not, however, extend to silver, platinum and palladium, all of which retreated.

Placer Dome was the most active resource issue, rising $1.22 to $16.18 on a volume of 17.6 million shares. The major made three significant announcements: the AurionGold takeover offer has been extended; its hedge book will be reduced; and a high-grade gold system has been discovered near the Campbell mine in Ontario’s Red Lake camp. The discovery is shared by Claude Resources, which owns the property on which it sits. Claude rose 13 to $1.63.

Next on the volume list came Kinross Gold, which added 33 on a volume of more than 16 million shares to end the period at $3.26. Also higher were: Barrick Gold, up $1.04 at $25.36; Meridian Gold, which added $1.65 to finish at $30.35; Agnico-Eagle Mines, $1.63 higher at $23.74; and Goldcorp, $1.60 stronger at $16.75.

Junior Wheaton River Minerals, which rose 11 to $1.28, reported earnings of US$2 million as revenue sank to US$915,000 in the first half of the year. The profit compares with a loss of US$717,000 on US$2 million in the first half of 2001 and reflects the sale of non-core assets, mostly in the second quarter.

Following the lead of metal traders, investors knocked 5.3% off the Diversified Metals and Mining Index. Ivanhoe Mines and Fording Coal were the only producers to come away unscathed, advancing 15, to $2.85, and 5, to $23.45, respectively.

Inco was the most active of the bunch, slipping $2.81 to $27.15 as nearly 3.2 million shares changed hands. Also down were: Falconbridge, $1.06 to $16.39; Noranda, 89 to $16.30; Cameco, 77 to $30.50; Teck Cominco‘s B-series, 72 to $10.13; Aur Resources, 37 to $3.16; LionOre Mining, 16 to $3.67; and Sherritt International, 2 to $4.57.

Junior producer Ivernia West doubled in market value to four pennies on mixed news. The company lost US$1.2 million in the three months ended June 30; but, in the same period, a record number of tonnes were mined and milled at its half-owned Lisheen lead-zinc mine in Ireland.

Mountain Province Diamonds jumped 33 to $1.11, only to spring another 31 on Sept. 4, when, lo and behold, it released good news. Partner De Beers Canada Exploration has recovered another 1,215 carats from its 5034 kimberlite pipe in the Northwest Territories. Also, far more stones weighed greater than 1 carat than did those recovered in 2001 and 1999.