CDNX starts 2002 on bullish note

Vancouver — Canada’s junior exchange kicked off 2002 with a holiday rally led by junior explorers. The Standard and Poor’s-Canadian Venture Exchange Composite Index jumped 58.1 points, or 5.9%, and closed the Dec. 21-Jan. 1 holiday period at 1036.59.

Canabrava Diamond was the week’s market darling as the Quebec diamond hunt captured greater interest and gained momentum. The junior closed a $740,000 financing and signed a deal to earn a half-stake in Majescor’s Mistassini project, near the Otish Mountain region. Canabrava ended the week up 9 to 40 on 3.1 million shares.

The closing of a private placement of 273,300 flow through shares priced at 15 each failed to lift shares of New Millennium Metals. The company lost 13 and closed at 11 with 1.8 million shares traded.

Majescor Resources hit a new 52-week high, surging 84 to close at $1.60 with 1.2 million shares traded. The junior has a large land position surrounding Ashton Mining of Canada’s new diamond find in the Otish Mountains region.

Sirios Resources tacked on 14 and closed at 28 with 810,000 shares crossing the floor. The junior recently raised $115,000 consisting of flow-through shares priced at 15 per share. Proceeds will be put towards its exploration properties in Quebec. Diamond indicator mineral analysis is ongoing on the 33 Carats project directly adjacent to the Ashton-Soquem property.

Major General Resources tacked on 5 and closed at 13 on a volume of 787,000 shares. The junior announced a non-brokered private placement of 1.6 million units priced at 10 each. BHP Billiton is exploring the company’s Misty Lake diamond property in the Northwest Territories.

Randy Turner-led Diamondex Resources closed at 94, up 18 on 775,000 shares. The company recently earned a 60% stake in the Kelsey diamond property in the Northwest Territories. Fellow junior Tyler Resources holds the remaining 40%, and a joint venture has been formed to explore the property. Tyler closed 7 to 15 on 164,000 shares.

Muskox Minerals soared 21 on news that the junior inked a divestiture and option agreement with privately owned Archean Energy. Under the terms of the deal, Archean will purchase all of Muskox’s geophysical data and half of its properties in Nunavut for $20 million. Muskox ended the week at 42 on 427,000 shares.

Hornby Bay Exploration added 2 and closed at 23 on 359,000 shares. The junior holds 100% of the Asiak diamond property, some 30 km along strike from Ashton Mining of Canada’s Artemisia kimberlite pipe in Nunavut, which yielded 342 microdiamonds and 38 macros from a 103.2-kg sample.

A nice percentage gainer, Northern Empire Minerals surged 32 and closed at 82. The junior, along with partners Chilean Gold, Stornoway Ventures, Wind River Resources and International Samuel Exploration inked a deal to earn a 20% stake in the Jubilee diamond property in Nunavut.

Please note: Rather than publish separate year-end stock tables, the year-end closes and yearly high and low values can be gleaned from this week’s tables, which reflect the close of trading on Dec. 31, 2001.