MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — WESTERN MARKETS — Vancouver records gains, Alberta dips slightly — Deals, good results buoy Canadian, foreign juniors

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index lost 7.38 points, or 1.85%, over the week ended Oct. 6 to close at 392.61. The mining index managed to tack on 3.36 points, or 1.2%, to round out our trading period at 286.14.

The Alberta Stock Exchange was not so fortunate — the market’s combined value dropped 28.9 points, or 1.65%, to close at 1,724.32.

Winspear Resources topped the charts over the past week, gaining 38 cents to close at $1.48 on receipt of results from a preliminary scoping study on the northwest kimberlite dyke at Snap Lake, N.W.T. Based on 78 holes over a strike length of 850 metres and a width of 200-400 metres, the study returned two models that indicated the mine could be operated at a profit.

The first model is a $61-million open-pit operation based on 667,000 tonnes of kimberlite that would be processed at a rate of 1,000 tonnes per day. The second model is a $104-million open-pit/underground operation whose 3.5 million tonnes of kimberlite would be processed at a similar daily rate.

Madison Enterprises soared 52 cents to close at $1.49. The market is anticipating a new resource estimate for the company’s Mt. Kare project in Papua New Guinea. Madison holds a 65% interest, with the remainder held by Australian and local interests.

The open-pit resource weighs in at 1 million tones grading 3.3 gram gold per tonne, whereas the underground resource stands at 1.4 million tonnes grading 7.51 grams.

An additional 1.16 million tonnes grading 1.7 grams are contained in tailings left from past operations, and the company believes potential exists in several untested open-pit targets.

Major General Resources edged up 6 cents to 33 cents following the receipt by the De Beers lab in Kimberley, South Africa, of kimberlites from the Victoria Island project in the Northwest Territories. A 160-kg sample taken from the Golden Plover kimberlite contained 39 micros. An 80-kg sample from the Longspur kimberlite contained eight micros and one macro. A 160-kg sample from the Whimbrel pipe can back barren.

The company and its partner, Ascot Resources, will each have a 24.5% working interest in the project after Monopros earns its 51%. Ascot jumped 15 cents to 33 cents.

Alberta-listed Pender Capital rose 6 cents to finish at 77 cents on news that it was looking to purchase privately owned Granigroupe, Canada’s largest stone and granite company. Granigroupe is also the principle producer of granite blocks and finished slabs.