Gold stocks soar with bullion

The precious metals enjoyed across-the-board gains during the Sept. 3-9 report period. Gold jumped US$12.25 to end at US$382.25 per oz. sending the Toronto Stock Exchange’s gold subindex soaring 8.1 points to 207.12. Overall, the TSX composite index tacked on 15.91 points to make 7,596.51.

Wheaton River Minerals remained the busiest mining issue, adding another 51 to finish at a new 52-week high of $2.76 with more than 65.2 million shares traded. Ever-busy Wheaton recently inked a pair of deals with Teck Cominco and Vancouver-listed Miranda Mining to boost its Mexican portfolio by acquiring the Los Filos gold deposit and taking a 21% stake in the El Limon gold deposit. For their part, Teck’s B series of shares rose 60 to make $14.30.

Jonpol Explorations burst onto the scene, soaring 9, or nearly 81% of value, to hit 20, a new 52-week high of its own. The junior says that composite grab samples from core found scattered on the ground at the Goodchild Lake property near Marathon, Ont., have returned up to 399 ppb platinum and 711 ppb palladium. Jonpol believes the core comes from a drilling campaign carried out on the property by Violamac Mines in 1954.

Jonpol’s meteoric rise was eclipsed by fellow junior Diamond Fields International, which rocketed 49, or a whopping 148%, to land at 82 on a trading volume of 6.7 million shares. Chip sampling on a newly acquired nickel discovery on Ammassilik Island off the southeast coast of Greenland averaged 1% nickel, 0.3% copper, plus minor precious metal values. Fieldwork is ongoing, as it is on two diamond prospects in Madagascar where alluvial miners working near DFI’s land unearthed two diamonds weighing 23.8 and 8.4 carats, respectively.

Bema Gold shot up another 46 higher to $3.44 on impressive drill results from the Kupol gold property in Russia. New drill results from the Boka gold project in China also pushed shares in Southwestern Resources $1.95 higher to $15.95.

On the financing front, Rio Narcea Gold Mines recently arranged a US$47-million debt facility to mine the Aguablanca nickel sulphide deposit in southwestern Spain. The issue rose 45 to $3.10. Gabriel Resources topped that, arranging a bought-deal involving 15 million shares at $3.05 apiece for proceeds of $45.8 million. The company also recently said that it has acquired about a third of the residential properties required to allow for construction of the Rosia Montana mine in Romania.

The diversified metals & mining index grabbed 3.71 points to hit its own high of 156.94. Ivanhoe Mines was the busiest index resident, adding 74 to make $7.03. The company recently shot down rumours to the contrary saying it plans to keep a majority stake in its ever-growing Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in Mongolia.

Off-index, Boliden jumped $1.44 to $4.99 as the Swedish miner agreed to an asset swap with Finnish-based Outokumpu. When the dust settles, Boliden will hold all of the Finn’s mining assets and Outokumpu will have a 49% stake in the Swede.