Hushovd’s exit fuels speculation over Falco’s future

The biggest surprise of the Feb. 20-26 report period was the sudden departure of long-time Falconbridge president and CEO Oyvind Hushovd, which apparently was related to a conflict with the management outlook of parent company Noranda.

Noranda’s president and COO, Derek Pannell, immediately replaced Hushovd at Falco. Over the period, Falco fell 17 to $17.33 while Noranda rose 40 to $16.85.

The other base metal majors were mixed: Inco was up 13 to $29.12; Teck Cominco jumped 60 to $14.32; Aur Resources rose 5 to $3.79; Breakwater Resources inched up 1 to 27; Boliden fell 4 on little volume to $6.67; and Inmet Mining shed a penny to hit $4.75.

Barrick Gold soared $2.04 to $29.99 as it took the unusual step of releasing financial results for January, the company’s first full month of operation following its merger with Homestake Mining.

For January, Barrick posted net income of US$9 million (US2 per share) from gold production totalling 480,592 oz. and gold sales of 300,449 oz. (The gap is due to deferred delivery of production into early February.) For all of 2002, Barrick expects to produce 5.7 million oz. gold at a cash cost of US$167 per oz.

The rest of Canada’s majors basked in gold’s most-recent rally back into the uppper US$290s: Placer Dome jumped $1.81 to $19.66; Kinross Gold ascended 23 to $1.75; Cambior rose 17 to $1.32; TVX Gold was up 3 to $1.15; Goldcorp sprang $2.36 to $26.59; Meridian Gold leaped 72 to $21.42; and Agnico-Eagle Mines rose 85 to $20.08 as it released solid fourth-quarter results.

A small decline in silver prices didn’t hold back Pan American Silver, which rose 57 to $8.22. The company is issuing, to a syndicate of underwriters, 3 million shares priced at US$4.80 per share in order to raise proceeds of US$14.4 million.

South American Gold & Copper was the most actively traded junior, shooting up 5 to 12. The company, which is exploring in Chile, has completed a $990,000 private placement consisting of 24 million units, with each unit comprising one share and half a common share warrant. Proceeds will directed toward claim acquisitions and drilling. The company now has 184.7 million shares outstanding.

High River Gold Mines rose 5 to $1.30 as it completed a $10-million private placement that will be directed partly toward the potential acquisition of new projects.

Etruscan Resources roared ahead 13 to 96 as its 50%-owned subsidiary, African GeoMin Mining & Development, repaid, in full, a US$3.5-million debenture, plus accrued interest, to RMB Resources International.