Gold yoyos amid high oil prices

The report period Sept. 29-Oct. 5 saw the price of gold rise to close US$3.70 higher at US$415.40 per oz. in the afternoon in London. In New York, oil prices were still hovering around US$50 a barrel; the energy index was up another 4 points at 192.92 points; the gold index rose 5.7 points, or 2.7%, to close at 215.98; and the diversified metals and mining index was up by 2.7 points, or 1.1%, at 248.25 points. The S&P TSX composite index rose 180 points over the week to close at 8,797.05 points.

Wheaton River Minerals led the way in volume, trading 44.28 million shares. The stock rose 21, or 5.5%, to close at $3.99. Wheaton received US$86 million in cash from the Alumbrera mine in Argentina (an 83% return on its investment). The company owns 37.5% of the mine. Coeur d’Alene Mines‘ attempt to buy out all of Wheaton’s shares failed at the end of September.

Cambior rose 9, or 2.4%, to close at $3.89, with 21 million shares changing hands. It arranged a $90-million bought-deal financing, part of which will buy a 55.3% stake in Compania Minera Poderosa in Peru (for a possible US$31 million price tag).

Campbell Resources rose 27, or 62%, to close at 69 on a volume of 2 million shares. There was no news to account for the rise, though the sale of the Bachelor Lake property to Metanor Resources was set to close at the end of September.

First Nickel traded 4 million shares and gained 40%, or 22, to close at 77. The company recently completed the purchase of the Dundonald property, 60 km east of Timmins, Ont., from Falconbridge. Falco now owns 18.4% of the issued and outstanding shares of First Nickel.

Asia Pacific was a high-volume trader at 12.9 million shares. The stock closed up 33%, or 5, to finish at 14. There was no news to account for the rise. TVI Pacific also traded heavily (11.6 million shares) on no news. The price of the stock rose 1.5 to close at 17.5.

SouthernEra Diamond traded 9.4 million shares and rose 29%, or 17, to close at 75. The company completed a first-phase reverse-circulation drill program at the Yilgarn diamond project in Western Australia (a joint venture between SouthernEra and Caldera Resources).

Jaguar Nickel rose 28%, or 17, to close at 76 on a volume of 5.3 million shares. The junior completed a test of an atmospheric chloride leach process technology and reported 87% nickel and 85% cobalt extraction from samples that graded 1.3-1.4% nickel and 0.03-0.05% cobalt.

Virginia Gold Mines rose 27%, or 43, to close at $2 on a volume of 984,000 shares. The company reported drill results from its Eleonore property in the James Bay area of Quebec. Highlighting the results is an intercept that graded 12.4 grams gold per tonne over a 16-metre true width.

Southern Cross traded 5 million shares and fell 17%, or 23, to close at $1.12. No news was reported.

EuroZinc saw 14.9 million shares cross the floor, yet, again, there was no news to account for the high volume. The stock rose 7 to 80.