MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — EASTERN MARKETS — Gold price nudges up towards $300 mark

Gold flickered back to life during the report period ended Nov. 23, with spot prices climbing US$2.40 over the week to US$297.85 per oz. on the Nov. 24 London morning fix. Gold was trading above US$299 at presstime.

The rise helped lift most of Canada’s major gold producers: Barrick Gold rose $1.50 to $27.70; Franco-Nevada Mining gained 40 cents to $26.90; and Kinross Gold climbed 30 cents to $3.35.

Volume leader Placer Dome fell 5 cents to $17.75 as it entered into separate agreements with partners Channel Resources and Vancouver-listed Solomon Resources to earn up to 65% in the juniors’ Bombore and Naoube gold properties in Burkina Faso. Channel dropped 5 cents to 30 cents on the news.

Still reeling from its US$33-million hedging loss, Cambior continued to be the sad sack of the gold miners, plummeting 37 cents to $1.56. At presstime, shares were trading at $1.25, giving the company a market capitalization of just $88 million. The company’s restrictive standstill agreement with its hedging counterparties remained in place until Nov. 26.

Base metal prices showed strength across the board, with nickel up 4 cents to US$3.63 per lb. and copper, zinc and lead all up a penny to US78 cents, US53 cents and US22 cents per lb., respectively.

The rise in spot prices did not translate into higher share prices for many of Canada’s base metal producers: Inco, whose Voisey’s Bay project is back in the news, fell $1.05 to $27.85; Falconbridge lost 95 cents at $22.25; Sherritt International dropped 7 cents to hit $2.98; Noranda was off 25 cents at $18.25; Rio Algom declined $1.30 to $17.25; Teck’s B shares fell 45 cents to close at $13.25; and Cominco dropped 10 cents to $24.25. Bucking the trend was Boliden, which rebounded 40 cents to $3.95.

Among the juniors, Yamana Resources fell 2 cents to 45 cents on news that it plans to sell the Elvira copper porphyry in northern Chile to a local subsidiary of Broken Hill Proprietary for US$1.38 million.

Yamana also took a big step toward becoming a producer at its Bacon silver project in Argentina’s Santa Cruz province. The company’s convertible noteholders voted in favour of a US$4-million loan from Northgate Exploration, which nose-dived 23 cents over the week to 92 cents.

Bema Gold celebrated a US$25-million financing agreement that will allow it to draw up construction plans for its 79%-owned Julietta gold-silver mine in Russia’s far east. Two European banks agreed to front the funds, which comprise the bulk of the US$38.5 million required to redevelop the past producer.

Aur Resources fell 16 cents to $2.39 after shareholders of Consolidated Abitibi Resources voted in favour of a proposed merger between the two. Abitibi shareholders have now received one Aur share for every 22 Abitibi shares, bringing the number of Aur’s outstanding common shares to 75,742,491.