STOCK MARKETS — Junior explorers lively outside diamond

Earlier this year, juniors without a diamond property or Venezuelan gold concession in their portfolio had as good a shot at stirring market enthusiasm as a company flogging used dishrags.

But while fashionable area plays like the “Corridor of Hope” (#1, #2 or #3) and “Kilometre 88” still draw a crowd, it appears investors tired of earning 3% on their GICs are beginning to cast about for opportunities in other parts of the junior mining sector.

During the week ended June 15, for example, several small-cap miners on the Toronto and Montreal Exchanges bounced to new 52-week highs on news of encouraging intersections or property acquisitions around the globe. Announcing the discovery of a large zone of zinc-rich massive sulphides on the northeast coast of Greenland, Platinova added 35 cents to close the week at $1.35 and soared to $2.45 today (June 16). Assay results are expected shortly.

Reporting results from a 30-metre intersection of polymetallic mineralization on its Lewis Ponds property in Australia, Tri Origin Exploration touched a new 52-week high of $1.62 before finishing the week at $1.45 for a gain of 31 cents.

With the right to earn up to 90% in a gold property near the Omai mine in Guyana, Cathedral Gold tacked on 40 cents to $1.40 and added another 18 cents to $1.58 today (June 16).

Orvana Minerals continued its advance, adding 48 cents to $2.05 on news that it will raise $3.4 million to fund exploration projects outside Canada. It added another 32 cents today to $2.37.

Representing purely Canadian plays, ME-listed Orco Resources doubled to 60 cents as 4.87 million shares changed hands. The junior has acquired the right to mine the Donalda gold deposit in northwestern Quebec under a recent agreement with property-holders Metall Mining and Thunderwood Resources. Metall closed unchanged at $11 while Thunderwood shed 9 cents to 83 cents. Princeton Mining, which has been forced by weak copper prices to close its Similco open-pit copper mine in British Columbia, was one of the junior sector’s few losers. The issue touched a new 52-week low of 50 cents before closing down 5 cents at 68 cents.

A volatile gold price made its mark on the broader market. Dragged down by US$365 gold at the beginning of the week, the gold and silver index bounced back to close at 8340 points for a gain of 178 points while the TSE 300 recorded a modest 28-point gain.

After yo-yoing within the US$363.00-371.45 range, gold settled at the US$370-level today, June 16.

Active gold stocks included Placer Dome, up 63 cents to $24 on 5.8 million shares; Lac Minerals, down 25 cents to $11.75 and American Barrick Resources, up 13 cents to $28.50.

Word on Howe Street is that Canaccord Capital may be orchestrating a takeover of Aber Resources (TSE), up 25 cents to $5.25, on behalf of a group with other diamond holdings.

Aber has been unusually active of late, trading 1.76 million shares during our report period and more than 2.7 million shares the previous week. Canaccord is said to have amassed about two million of the diamond explorer’s 20 million issued and outstanding shares through market purchases. But Canaccord Chairman Peter Brown says the market activity is probably related to a recent research report by the brokerage house that recommended the diamond explorer as a buy.