Montreal Exchange NA Rare comes alive

Drilling results from Casa Berardi pushed North American Rare Metals up for the second straight week. It closed at 53 cents , up 18 cents on the week, on 876,700 shares.

North American, controlled by Tandem Resources, can earn a 50% interest in the property. North American’s 50% joint venture partner in the project is Dundee Palliser.

North American’s president, Craig Arnott, says there are two drill rigs working on the property now and a third is on the way.

Tandem was unchanged at $1.37 on 32,000 shares. Aunore jumped 25 cents on 81,500 shares to close at $4.75. Drilling on its joint venture property returned some fantastic results at depth on the Elder property near Rouyn that could have a big impact on reserve figures. Four holes cut true widths of more than 22 ft with cut grades ranging from 0.201 oz to 0.670 oz. One hole cut a true width of 30.5 ft with an average cut grade of 0.538 oz.

Up 65 cents to $4.75 on the week was Aur Resources. It traded 81,500 shares as rumors circulated that Corp. Falconbridge Copper was taking control and turning over its exploration activities to the junior. The rumor was squelched by both companies.

Another big gainer was Novamin, up 70 cents to $3.45 on 128,600 shares. It’s been getting some good results from its Darius joint venture near Cadillac, Que., but the company has a number of good projects on the go. Normally a light trader, the volume for this issue came as a big surprise this week.

Also active was Oasis Resources, although it didn’t make any startling move either up or down. It traded 257,100 shares and gained a penny to close at 69 cents .

The company has set a reserve figure on its Souart Twp. property and, although small, it shows some progress there. Oasis estimates it has about 300,000 tons in three zones with one zone holding more than a third of that at an average grade of about 0.216 oz gold per ton.

Beaufield Resources was up 10 cents to $1 during its first week of trading on the Montreal Exchange. The company has cut a deal with Baden Exploration to explore Baden’s Casa Berardi property this winter. Drilling was due to begin last week.

Golden Briar intersected 6.5 ft grading 0.13 on a property in Estrees Twp optioned from Eider Resources in the Casa Berardi area. The hole was a 300-ft stepout from a gold intersection on the western boundary of the property.

Golden Brian was unchanged at 52 cents on 19,000 shares. Eider was also unchanged at 56 cents on 19,000 shares.