Lakewood, Green Valley react to drill `reports’ for Wood

Western markets leveled off during the period ended May 5, with the Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index finishing up 5.74 points to the 620 level and the resource index slipping just under three points to 519.17.

The Alberta Stock Exchange composite index managed to add 6.87 points, finishing the period at 808.28.

Gold remains stuck at the US$336-per-oz. level with gold stock analysts taking up renewed proclamations of a market bottom following the recent purchase of 375,000 oz. of gold by Newmont Mining. The company purchased the gold at US$335.90 per oz., closing out all of its forward sales. Others don’t necessarily see the move as bullish, claiming the purchase was made to absorb an equivalent bullion sale which could have badly hurt the market without the opposing Newmont purchase.

Lethargy on western markets continues to choke resource issues with little to get excited about. When asked what was hot, one local mining analyst exemplified the resource market’s malaise, noting his firm had some good-looking high-tech issues coming down the pipe.

On the Vancouver exchange, Lakewood Resources and Green Valley Mine certainly received some attention over the period, with both issues running up on large volumes. Lakewood hit a high of $2.05 before finishing at $1.65 for a gain of $1.02. Green Valley managed a high of $1.50, closing up 52 cents at $1.15. The companies are drilling on their 50-50 joint venture Wood claims adjacent to the Afton copper mine near Kamloops, B.C.

Two holes drilled last year were reported to have “localized” native copper but were never assayed. The first hole in the recent drilling is visually reported to have native copper disseminations throughout the 328-metre length of the core, although no assays have been completed.

Local analysts’ opinion on the project (and the “eye-ball assays”) varies from outright scoffing and skepticism to cautious views that the companies may have something. Much of the buying is believed to be coming from south of the border, while local short sellers have started hitting the issues. For the period ended May 1, the short position in Lakewood jumped 94,300 shares to 104,300.

Booker Gold Explorations, which is working to acquire ground in the Afton area, also took a jump, gaining 30 cents to close at 57 cents. Other players include United Pacific Gold, which expects to pick up some ground in the area shortly. The issue finished at 29 cents, up from 20 cents. The British Columbia Court of Appeal is expected to announce a judgment shortly on the year-long trading ban imposed by the B.C. Securities Commission on promoter Murray Pezim. Imposition of the ban was stayed pending the outcome of the hearing.

Pezim’s two flagships companies, Adrian Resources and Golden Ring Resources, have slipped into relative obscurity in recent weeks.

Adrian, which is earning a 40% interest in the 180-million-tonne Petaquilla copper project in Panama, finished the week up a penny at 66 cents on light volume.

Golden Ring fared poorly, hitting a low of 92 cents before closing down 21 cents at $1.04. Drilling is continuing on the company’s Bellas Gate copper-gold property in Jamaica and additional ground was recently acquired with Tantalus Resources, another Prime-managed company.