MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — WESTERN MARKETS — Winspear continues to attract investors’ attention

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index shed 4.21 points, or 0.8% of its value, during the July 2-7 report period, closing at 527.99. The mining index finished at 384.87, down 4.89 points, or 1.3%. Meanwhile, the combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange rose 19.17 points, or 0.9%, to end the period at 2,109.06.

Once again, Winspear Resources was the most active issue on the VSE. The diamond explorer lost 20 cents to close at $1.49 on a volume of 5.1 million shares. The company has yet to announce details of a planned infill drilling program on the NW Snap Lake kimberlite dyke at the Camsell Lake property in the Northwest Territories. A valuation pegged a 226.72-carat parcel of stones recovered from the dyke at US$301.43 per carat. Winspear is increasing its interest in the project this year to 68.5%. Aber Resources holds the balance.

California-based Conquistador Mines was up 44 cents at $1.34 after being talked up by a U.S. newsletter writer. The company’s primary asset is a 50% interest in the Marmato gold project in Colombia. A scoping study is being prepared in order to develop a preliminary resource estimate based on drilling and sampling data. The project is viewed as a bulk-minable target.

Britannia Gold dipped as low as 19 cents before closing down 6 cents at 23 cents. The company released results from a preliminary 3-hole, 917-metre drilling program on the Cerro Joncojirca precious and base metal prospect, part of the Sabrina project in north-central Peru. Results included 33 metres grading 24.8 grams silver, 0.62 gram gold, 2.59% zinc and 1.19% lead in hole 1, 78.1 metres grading 18.9 grams silver, 0.69% zinc and 0.61% lead in hole 2, and 113.5 metres grading 42.1 grams silver, 0.11 gram gold, 0.78% zinc and 0.63% lead in hole 3. Joint-venture partners Cyprus Amax Minerals and Peru-based Buenaventura can earn a 51% interest in the property from Britannia.

Archangel Diamond dropped 29 cents to close at 71 cents after acknowledging a dispute with its Russian partner, Arkhangelskgeoldobycha (AGD). It has requested the immediate transfer of the Verkhotina diamond mining and exploration licence from AGD to Almanzy Berg, a joint-stock company owned 50% by AGD, 40% by Archangel and 10% by a private British Virgin Islands-based company. If the dispute is not resolved in 30 days, Archangel says it will commence arbitration proceedings in Stockholm.

Bell Coast Capital was up a penny to 68 cents after reporting that it had completed seven drill holes on the past-producing Copalquin gold-silver property in the Mexican state of Durango. One of the three holes that tested the El Cometa zone intersected bonanza grades over a 3-metre interval, including 949.4 grams gold and 7,813 grams silver over 0.9 metre. The other samples within the 3-metre interval ranged from 13.54 to 104.2 grams gold and from 879 to 1,220 grams silver.

AGC Americas Gold slipped 10 cents to 62 cents on the release of drill results for the first seven holes of the current program at the Toodoggone gold project in north-central B.C. The operator of the program, Antares Mining and Exploration, can increase its interest to 55% from 39.6% by spending a further $1.4 million. Alberta-listed Gallery Resources was up 3 cents at 42 cents. The company says a downhole geophysical survey of the first hole drilled last year on the Okak Bay property in Labrador has identified an electrical conductor immediately west of the hole.