Gold keeps lustre on junior exchange

Vancouver — Canada’s junior exchange continued to post positive gains as gold held its ground above US$400 per oz. over the week ended Dec. 9. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index tacked on 9.13 points, or 0.53% of value, to close at 1,720.89.

Mandorin Goldfields added 4 on news that it will move ahead with potential projects in China. The company inked a memorandum of understanding with JEL Project & Construction Management, which holds resource concession rights and legal title to several gold projects in China. Mandorin ended the week at 14 with 7.5 million shares traded.

Investors continued to bid up shares in JNR Resources. The junior added 8 to closed at 32 with 5.7 million shares traded. JNR recently dealt an option on its Moore Lake and Lazy Edward Bay uranium properties to International Uranium. The project is in the Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan.

Inca Pacific tacked on a penny following news it had closed a $5-million financing. Some US$2.1 million will be used to exercise an option to buy Anaconda Peru’s 51% interest in the Magistral copper project. Upon exercise of the option, Inca will hold a 100% interest in the project. The junior ended the week at 30 on a volume of 4.8 million shares.

Making a big percentage move, Stornoway Diamond added 41 and closed at $1.85 with 4.6 million shares changing hands. Driving the share price were results from recent drilling on the 5.5-million-acre Aviat project on the Melville Peninsula in eastern Nunavut yielded 737 diamonds from 531.7 kg of the AV-1 kimberlite and 30 diamonds from 39.4 kg of the AV-2 kimberlite. The largest stone measured 4 by 3.5 by 1.8 mm.

Spider Resources ended the week up 2, to 14, with 4.4 million shares crossing the floor. The junior, along with partner KWG Resources, has been busy working the McFaulds base metal property in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario. KWG closed at 27, up 2, with 3.2 million shares traded.

Starfield Resources closed up 12, to 38, with 3.8 million shares changing hands. At last report, the company was gearing up to drill new geophysical targets at the Ferguson Lake polymetallic project in Nunavut. The company is raising $1.4 million by issuing flow-through and non-flow through units at 20 apiece.

Cabo Mining closed up 3, to 14, on a volume of 3.6 million shares. The company recently acquired a gold-copper-silver-molybdenite property west of Kenora, Ont. According to the option agreement, Cabo must pay $30,000 cash and issue 100,000 post-consolidated shares over two years, as well as spend $200,000 on exploration over three years. On Dec. 19, shareholders will be asked to approve a consolidation of the company shares on a 5-old-for-1-new basis and a name-change to Cabo Mining Enterprises.

Bishop Resources rose 1 to 25 with 3.5 million shares traded. The junior extended the closing date for the purchase of the Al/Bonanza and Lawyers properties in the Toodoggone district of north-central British Columbia to March 31, 2004. Bishop is required to spend $4 million over five years, pay $775,000 (of which $700,000 are advance royalty payments) over five years, and issue 19.9% of the outstanding shares of Bishop (roughly 10 million) at the closing of the acquisition.