A Bank-Holiday-shortened week in England saw the price of gold close US25 higher at US$418.25 per oz. in the afternoon in London on May 27. Back in Canada, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s gold index came off the Victoria Day holiday rejuvenated, posting a 10.6-point advance to 182.20 points. Not to be outdone, the diversified mining crowd climbed 17.95 points to 293.64. Overall, the S&P TSX composite index finished the May 24-30 report period 221 points better at 9,673.2.
Two mining companies traded over 10 million shares each.
Shares in Dynatec remained a hot commodity, with more than 17 million shares making their way 23 higher to $1.40. South Africa’s Impala Platinum has signed on to help develop the company’s Ambatovy nickel- laterite project in Madagascar. Dynatec shares also benefited from impressive drill results from behind the Levack No. 2 mine-shaft, near Sudbury, Ont., where it is partnered with FNX Mining. For its part, FNX finished 80 better at $11.68.
Tahera Diamond saw 10.8 million shares trade, sliding 1.5 to 39. The company has begun construction of its Jericho diamond mine in Nunavut. The project’s price tag recently grew by $12.9 million to $94.4 million, owing to requirements under the project’s water licence and land leases, issued earlier this year.
Contact Diamond soared 24, or 66.6%, to make 60. The shares have been on the rebound since late April, when drilling on the RAM project, north of Yellowknife, failed to cut any kimberlite.
Equally impressive was Weda Bay Minerals‘ 48% jump to 46. The company recently terminated an agreement that would have given OM Group exclusive rights to initial production of nickel and cobalt concentrate from its Halmahera project in Indonesia. Weda must repay US$2.5 million by the end of September, and another US$20 million once project financing is arranged; alternatively, Weda can grant OMG the equivalent of a 1% net smelter royalty on the project for 30 years.
Prior to drill results being released Guyana Goldfields traded 102,000 shares and rose 40% to $2.12. The drill results included an intersection grading as high as 6.9 grams gold per tonne over 50 metres, causing the stock to soar another 33 on May 31.
Shares in QGX climbed 28% to $2.05 on a volume of 634,000 shares. The company has arranged private placement financing by issuing 3.8 million shares at $1.60 per share. The company will use the funds to advance its projects in Mongolia.
Shareholders of Southwestern Resources have responded favourably to the company’s plan to acquire up to 2 million shares of the company. The stock rose 27% to $9.30 with 1.1 million shares changing hands. Southwestern has one year to acquire the shares and no more than 860,123 shares can be purchased per month. The company has exploration projects in Peru and China.
Kinross Gold rose 26, to $6.65. The company is providing bi-weekly status updates regarding the preparation and filing of its financial statements but does not expect to file those statements before the end of June. A financial review of the accounting of the 2003 Kinross, TVX Gold and Echo Bay merger is under way.
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