MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — WESTERN MARKETS — Investors continue to shun VSE-listed juniors

Western markets had little to cheer about over the Sept. 16-22 report period as junior resource stocks continued to hold little interest for investors. The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index slipped through the 400 level, closing at 397.17 for a loss of 9.88 points, or 2.4%, while the mining index was off 6.45 points, or 2.3%, to end at 275.4. The combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange finished the period down 21.42 points, or 1.2%, at 1,727.44.

Winspear Resources was off 9 cents at $1.05 after releasing a drilling progress report on the NW Snap Lake kimberlite dyke at its 68%-owned Camsell Lake project in the Northwest Territories.

Mar-West Resources closed up 22 cents at $1.60, while Toronto-listed Glamis Gold finished the period at $3.55, for a gain of a quarter. Under the terms of a proposed merger between the two, Mar-West shareholders are entitled to receive one share of Glamis, or 0.8 of a Glamis share plus 96 cents, for every two shares held.

Simon Ridgway, who heads up Mar-West, also backs Balaclava Mines, which remained unchanged at $1.12 in heavy trading. Drilling is under way at the company’s El Corazon property in northern Ecuador. Fifteen holes are planned. Previous work on the property by RTZ returned high-grade gold values from two zones of sheeted vein mineralization. Balaclava says the focus of the current drilling program is previously untested high-grade structures at the Rio Verde Chico and Tres X’s zones. Balaclava holds an option to acquire a 70% interest initially.

West African Gold was up a penny at 11 cents. The company has proposed a takeover of privately held Fiji Empress Gold Mines on the basis of two West African shares for each FEGM share. FEGM holds an indirect 50% interest in the Rakiraki gold project on the Fijian island of Viti Levu.

Cimarron Minerals was down 4 cents at 19 cents after releasing partial assay results from a first phase of drilling of five holes on its wholly owned Schell Ranch volcanogenic massive sulphide property in central California.

Latitude Minerals closed at 46 cents, up 14 cents, on an agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Miller Mountain gold property in central Montana. Latitude must spend US$700,000 on exploration over three years and maintain annual underlying lease payments of US$20,000. A resource defined by nearly 400 holes is estimated at 7.5 million tons grading 0.039 oz. gold, equivalent to 290,000 oz.