STOCK MARKETS — VSE indexes in slide; gold moves sideways

A review of the trading activity on the Vancouver Stock Exchange for the period ended Oct. 25 reveals a string of negative signs as the market continues to retrench.

The resource index lost almost 23 points to close at 1,348.49 while the composite index slid 16 points to the 833 level. Gold provided little buying incentive, finishing virtually unchanged at the US$389-per-oz. level. Sway Resources took a leap prior to releasing preliminary assay results from its Franklin Camp mineral claims in southern British Columbia. The first hole from the current drilling program intersected 25 ft. grading 1.01 oz. gold per ton. Additional assay results from the hole are pending and drilling is continuing. The issue finished up 19 cents at 64 cents.

Additional results from the Taurus mine property in northern British Columbia put a damper on the shares of owner International Taurus Resources. The issue hit a high of $4.10 before losing all its recent gains to close unchanged at $2.34 on more than 1.4 million shares. The company released assay results from four new holes, returning somewhat lower grades than the discovery hole which returned an 85-ft. interval grading 0.16 oz. gold. The new results returned grades ranging from 0.015 oz. to 0.065 oz. over similar widths. Hera Resources, which owns 2.3 million shares of International Taurus, finished up 20 cents to $2.20. Hera has about 4.3 million shares outstanding, while Taurus has about 10 million shares outstanding.

Construction permits and an additional US$35 million in funding for its Leninogorsk gold-silver tailings project in Kazakhstan helped Goldbelt Resources edge up 8 cents to $1.40. The project is a joint venture with the Kazakhstan government, and Goldbelt expects to raise the remainder of the US$83.5 million capital cost shortly.

San Fernando Mining lost a quarter to close at $3.80 after releasing a clarification on its La Fortuna property in Mexico. The Gold Newsletter from Louisiana stated that La Fortuna is “closing in on one million ounces of gold.” San Fernando states that the figure is incorrect, noting proven and probable in situ reserves now stand at 348,371 oz. based on exploration results to date. San Fernando also admitted that it paid US$150,000 towards the cost of the distribution of the newsletter.

Additional drilling results from the Lomo Hierro silver project in western Cuba gave ASE-listed Holmer Gold Mines a 13 cents boost to 43 cents. Drilling to date has returned values of up to 24 oz. silver per ton over 32 ft. and recent trenching values grade up to 87 oz. over 20 ft. Preliminary estimates put the open-pitable probable resource at about 550,000 tons grading in the order of 11 oz. The project is a joint venture with the Cuban government. Shareholders of Southern Copper approved a split of the company’s diamond exploration assets into a new public company named South Atlantic Diamonds. The copper assets will remain in the existing company, which will change its name to Santa Catalina Mining. The company expects the two new entities to begin trading separately on Nov. 1.

Argosy Mining failed to hold onto last week’s gains, crashing 73 cents to finish at $1.51 on almost 1.8 million shares. The company recently signed an agreement to earn a 60% interest in the Dunka Road copper-nickel property in northern Minnesota from Fleck Resources. Fleck slipped 7 cents, closing at 45 cents.

Receipt of permits for its Luz del Cobre in situ copper leach project in Mexico helped Golden News Resources buck the market downtrend. After touching a new low of $1.01, the issue managed to close up 38 cents at $1.39. The company expects to be in production in mid-1995 and projects average yearly output at 10 million lb. copper at a cash cost of US35 cents per lb. El Callao Mining shares continue to erode with the market, slipping 36 cents to a new low of $1.30. The company holds an option to earn up to a 70% interest in a large land position in Venezuela’s El Callao region. Drilling on the property’s La Victoria area has returned values of up to 0.14 oz. gold over 100 ft.