Bolivar Goldfields places Tomi mine on auction block

Bolivar Goldfields (BVG-T) is selling its Tomi gold mine in Venezuela in preparation for jumping on to the e-commerce bandwagon.

The Toronto-based company has retained Endeavor Financial Corp. to assist with the sale. Proceeds will go towards any new investment.

Bolivar already has its hand in the hi-tech industry through 10 million shares of Wavve Telecommunications (WV-V), which it acquired in October 1999, when former affiliate Gran Columbia Resources bought the then-unlisted company and relisted under its name. The shares are currently worth about $71 million.

The Tomi mine, an open-pit operation, entered commercial production just under a year ago and is expected to produce 46,000 oz. in each of the next seven years at an average cash cost of US$173 per oz. Production in 1999 was projected to exceed 60,000 oz. at a cost of US$125 per oz.; however, no updates have been released since September.

Ore is treated at the nearby Revemin mill, which Bolivar bought in 1998 and subsequently expanded to treat 1,500 tonnes daily. The refurbishment and mine construction left the company with US$15.7 million in project debt.

At last report, reserves stood at 2.6 million tonnes grading 4.8 grams gold per tonne.

New Candela Resources (ncl-v) has changed its name to Sherwood Petroleum (SWD-V) on a 1-new-for-2-old-share basis.