Golds rise above broad market woes

Dragged down again by a troubled industrial sector, the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 index sank 251.43 points over the Nov. 15-21 report period to end the week at 9,013.86.

Fairing a good deal better were the golds, which collectively rose 216.95 points to 3,852.72. Leading the pack were Placer Dome and Franco-Nevada Mining, each of which climbed $1.45 to finish at $13.60 and $14.30, respectively. Also making gains were Barrick Gold, up 95 at $21.55, and Kinross, up 10 at 75. Physical gold climbed US$1.20 over the five trading days to settle at a London morning fix of US$266.45 per oz. on Nov. 22.

Junior producer McWatters Mining, which recorded a substantial loss for the third quarter, slipped 2 to 24. Underground operations at the Sigma-Lamaque complex in northern Quebec were closed, only to be replaced by the start of surface production. However, the changeover is going less smoothly than planned, and, accordingly, the company has had to lower its overall production forecast in 2000 by 10,000 oz.

Partners Exall Resources and Glimmer Resources (the latter of which trades on the Canadian Venture Exchange) settled their ownership dispute over the Glimmer gold mine in northern Ontario. Exall will carry on as operator, though it has had its interest decreased to 52% from a former claim of 65.5%. Exall ended the period at 45, down a penny.

North American Palladium, Canada’s only primary producer of palladium, climbed 20 to $12, only to rise another 75 the following day. At the period’s start, the company announced that underwriters to a $220-million equity financing closed in October exercised 1.6 million options at $9.50 apiece.

Base metals were down across the board, led by a 7 drop in spot nickel to US$3.23 per lb. Most of Canada’s producers followed suit: Inco slipped 15 to $22.80; Falconbridge slipped 35 to $17.20; Sherritt International dropped 15 to $4.10; Cominco dropped 20 to $17.90; Teck‘s B-series fell 5 to $11.20; Breakwater Resources fell 35 to $1.40; and Boliden sank 21 to $1.09. Bucking the trend were Noranda, up 35 at $15.20, and First Quantum Minerals, up 5 at $3.20.

Etruscan Resources, which is merging with CDNX-listed Mountain Lake Resources, picked up 16 to close out the week at 42, with 468,000 shares traded. There is no recent news from Etruscan’s principal project, the Samira Hill gold deposit in western Niger, shared with Semafo.

Summo Minerals, which has been working on several advanced exploration projects in Mexico and the U.S., fell 8 to close at 7, though only 32,000 shares changed hands.

Two companies from which little has been heard in recent months moved sharply on the markets. On the TSE, Corona Gold was off 30 at 41 on relatively light trading, while, on Montreal, Jourdan Resources rose 3 to close at 8.

Sonora Diamond, which was delisted this week, finished its TSE career at 2, down 2 from the previous week.