Gold’s anemic response to technology stocks’ wild fluctuations only got worse during the April 19-25 report period, with the yellow metal sinking US$3.70 to hit a London morning fix of US$277.70 per oz. on April 26. At presstime, gold was trading at US$275 per oz.
Despite generally positive first-quarter earnings reports, Canada’s major gold producers all retreated on gold’s weakness: Barrick Gold fell 30 to $24.50; Placer Dome dropped 20 to $12.25; Franco-Nevada Mining sank 30 to $17.25; and Kinross Gold edged down 14 to $1.81.
Two majors humbly joining the ranks of penny stocks were TVX Gold, which slipped 3 to 97, and Cambior, which fell a further 13 to 76 after revealing a whopping 1999 loss of US$358 million, or US$5.07 per share, on revenue of US$332 million.
Among the base metal producers, Rio Algom gained $2.25 to reach $18.40 as Noranda announced it had acquired a 6% stake in the company but had no immediate plans to launch a takeover. Noranda fell 50 to $14.40.
The remaining majors were a mixed bag, again in spite of the release of strong first-quarter results: Teck‘s B shares were down 35 to $10.45; Cominco was up $1.60 to $23.60; Boliden declined 13 to $2.15; Breakwater Resources advanced 23 to $3.13; Inco rebounded 50 to $25.10; and Falconbridge rose $2.25 to $23.85.
Turning to the juniors, gold miner Goldcorp finally stepped out from under a cloud by settling the long, bitter labour dispute at its Red Lake mine. The deal provides what the company calls generous severance packages to all bargaining-unit employees, and, when the mine reopens, the company will offer jobs to at least 45 prior employees, who will be selected by the company. The agreement also states that the United Steelworkers will no longer represent employees at Red Lake. Goldcorp’s class A shares gained 15 over the week to reach $9.
Agnico-Eagle Mines shed 5 to close at $8.20, as the junior announced a first-quarter loss of US$3.5 million. At the Laronde mine in Quebec, Agnico has completed the first phase of its expansion program, which included boosting production to 3,200 tonnes per day and sinking shaft No. 3 to a depth of 2,250 metres.
Orvana Minerals edged up a penny to 27 as it tabled a positive feasibility for its Don Mario gold-copper project in Bolivia. The study suggests the building of a 750-tonne-per-day underground operation to exploit 848,000 tonnes grading 15.55 grams gold per tonne. The company now needs financing.
Cambiex Exploration rose 4 to 57, for a two-week gain of 43%. The junior and its partner, Miramar Mining, are successfully proving up and expanding two existing gold deposits at their Hope Bay project in Nunavut. Curiously, Miramar fell 10 over the report period to close at 70.
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