EASTERN MARKETS — Royal Oak, Greenstone sink as duo grapples with debt load — Viceroy Resources hits hot holes in Argentina’s San Juan province

During the holiday-shortened Dec. 22-28 report period, the TSE 300 composite rose 1.3% to 6,465.38 points while the gold and precious minerals sub-index edged off slightly to 5,8903.94 points. The metals and minerals sub-index remained unchanged at 3,078.55 points.

The Royal Oak Mines deathwatch intensified in the days before Christmas as the embattled gold producer announced it was halting its debt payments until mid-February. Royal Oak shares plumbed new depths, ending the week down 11 cents to 45 cents. At presstime on Dec. 29, shares had tumbled even further to 41 cents. Meanwhile, the company’s most senior lender, Trilon Financial, gained $2 over the past two months to end the period above $11. Senior sub-lender Northgate Exploration remained unchanged throughout the week at 66 cents.

Another debt-burdened gold miner, Greenstone Resources, closed down 25 cents to $1.31 as the company announced it had successfully restructured its debt and boosted its working capital.

While gold slipped $2 to US$286.70 on the London morning fix of Dec. 29, Canada’s major gold miners proved to be a mixed bag through the week: Barrick was up 30 cents to $29.70; Kinross Gold slid 8 cents to hit $3.50; TVX Gold remained unchanged at $2.75; and Franco-Nevada Mining fell 25 cents to hit $29.90 while Euro-Nevada Mining rose 5 cents to $24.90. Placer Dome dropped another 25 cents to $17.60, while its latest proposed acquisition, Nasdaq-listed Getchell Gold, sunk another $1.87 to just US$25.75.

Noranda dropped $3.95 to $15.45 in response to a long-planned spinoff of its forestry and oil-and-gas divisions.

Among the other base metal miners: Teck’s B shares climbed 40 cents to $11; Rio Algom lost 35 cents to $17; and both Inco and Falconbridge shed 5 cents to reach $16.20 and $16, respectively.

On the New York Stock Exchange, trading was light over the holiday period with most of the majors showing significant declines: Homestake Mining was down 19 cents to US$8.88; Newmont Mining slipped 37 cents to US$16.75; Cyprus Amax dropped 44 cents to US$9.25; Battle Mountain Gold was down 6 cents to US$4; Asarco sank 62 cents to US$15.12; Phelps Dodge dropped 44 cents to US$49.81; and Anglogold lost US50 cents to reach US$19.19. Bucking the trend was Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, whose B shares jumped 44 cents to US$10.38.

Among the juniors, Viceroy Resources dropped 3 cents to $2.27 as the Vancouver-based explorer released assay results from a shallow drilling campaign at its Gualcamayo gold project in northwestern Argentina.

Highlights include: 143 metres of 0.63 gram gold per tonne in hole 8; 22 metres of 1.08 grams gold in hole 9; and 56 metres of 2.19 grams gold in hole 12.

Golden Star Resources subsidiary Guyanor Ressources announced it was terminating an option agreement with the local owner of the Dieu-Merci gold project in French Guiana. Guyanor slipped 1 cents to 69 cents, while Golden Star remained unchanged at $1.65.

Meanwhile, Cambior subsidiary Cambiex Exploration — another junior active in French Guiana — announced that former Golden Star president David Fennell will be coming aboard as chairman and will initially receive shares in lieu of salary. Cambiex shot up 11 cents to 24 cents on the news, while Cambior shed 20 cents to settle at $7.30.