MINING MARKET & INVESTMENT NEWS — EASTERN MARKETS — Soon-to-be-sold Brit gold leaves investors cold

Gold just can’t get a break these days. The yellow metal dropped another $4.65 over the report period ended June 1, crash-landing on the LME on the morning of June 2 at US$267.05 per oz.

Even silver suffered a setback, dropping 7 cents to US$4.98 per oz. The only gainers over the disheartening period were platinum and palladium, up $3.50 and $2.10 to US$361.5 per oz. and US$340.1 per oz., respectively.

Placer Dome, the most active issue of the week, fell 10 cents to $16.10 on a volume of 20.1 million shares. Also down was Kinross Gold, which dropped 13 cents to $2.58. Barrick Gold bucked the trend by jumping 40 cents to $25.05.

The mixed performance cushioned the Toronto Stock Exchange gold and precious metal sub-group, which fell just 57.18 points to 4,904.08.

Despite gloomy base metal prices, the TSE’s metals and minerals sub-group rose 63.3 points to 3,485.42. Nickel sank 24 cents to US$2.21 per lb. Copper fell 3 cents to US63 cents per lb. Lead and zinc each dropped 2 cents to US23 cents and US44 cents per lb., respectively.

The lower nickel price contributed to a loss of $1.50 for Falconbridge, which ended the period at $17.90. Also down were: Inco, off $1 at $22.65; Noranda, off 35 cents at $17.70; and Rio Algom, off 20 cents at $18.50.

A bright spot was Cominco, which edged ahead 60 cents to $20.50. By year-end, the major will have refurbished and restarted the No. 2 slag furnace at Trail, B.C., enabling processing to begin on 215,000 tonnes of stockpiled lead smelter slag containing 35,000 tonnes of zinc, plus significant quantities of indium and germanium.

Yamana Resources was the favoured eastern junior, with 6.37 million shares changing hands. It shed 14 cents to $1.05. Since May 25, the company has tripled in market capitalization as a result of an intersection of bonanza-grade gold-silver mineralization at its Bacon property in Argentina’s Santa Cruz province. The issue may remain lively, as similar results from its Martinetas property, also in Santa Cruz, were announced June 1.

Ecuadorian Minerals jumped 16 cents to 94 cents on news of the discovery of high-grade mineralization at its Beroen property in Ecuador. Sixteen surface samples from three quartz veins returned up to 126.9 grams gold (uncut) and 500 grams silver (uncut) per tonne. The area is one of three targets chosen for an upcoming 1,500-metre drill program.

Aurado Exploration fell 2 cents to 8 cents on a volume of 2.13 million shares, while Indochina Goldfields slipped 13 cents to $1.27 on volume of 1.07 million shares.

Shedding gains seen in the previous period were SouthernEra Resources, down 55 cents to $4.95, and Rex Diamond, down 39 cents to $2.66.