Vancouver Stock Exchange (January 13, 1992)

The VSE’s resource index staged a sharp rebound heading into 1992, gaining 38 points to finish the period ended Jan. 7 at 492.85. The composite index followed with a more modest increase of 7.56 points.

Whether the increase is a result of investor “bottom fishing,” or as one observer offered, simply an example of the adage “even a dead cat will bounce,” remains to be seen.

The price of gold offered little encouragement to the market, as it continued to lose ground, hovering in London at the US$350 level.

Trading action in Golden Ring Resources proved Murray Pezim still has his promotional abilities intact. The issue reached a high of $1.81 before settling at $1.75 for a gain of 20 cents on more than 800,000 shares. The company recently started drilling its Bellas Gate porphyry copper-gold target in Jamaica.

Galico Resources, another Pezim company with property interests in Jamaica, added 16 cents to close at $1.06.

Beleaguered Prime Equities International, the manager and a major shareholder of Golden Ring and Galico, managed to bounce off a low of $1.80 to finish up 60 cents at $2.60.

Rumors persist of an imminent negative decision by Placer Dome on the feasibility of its Mt. Milligan porphyry copper-gold project in north-central British Columbia. Many analysts note that a negative decision would likely hurt other porphyry projects in the province. Taseko Mines, which is looking for a buyer for the Fish Lake copper-gold property near Williams Lake, defied that theory, edging up 25 cents to finish at $9.87.

Partners El Condor Resources (60% interest) and St. Philips Resources (40% interest) expect to release a new reserve estimate shortly for their South Kemess project in north-central British Columbia. Preliminary estimates of reserves were last reported at 140 million tons grading 0.23% copper and 0.017 oz. gold per ton. El Condor finished up a nickel at $4.35, while St. Philips added 25 cents to close at $2.25.

Toltec Resources and West Pride Industries hope to begin drilling soon on the Middlemarch property in Arizona where a number of base metal targets have been identified. Toltec is up to the 40 cents level from 35 cents while West Pride is trading at the 29 cents level, up from 20 cents.

Coral Gold received a boost, jumping 12 cents to close at 52 cents. The company’s Robertson property in Nevada is reported to lie near the Placer Dome Cortez discovery, which is estimated to contain preliminary reserves of about 5.7 million tons grading 0.27 oz. gold. A local mining analyst noted that the proximity to the discovery makes Coral look interesting, although he finds it curious that Coral’s president recently sold a large portion of his shareholding, according to insider trading reports.