STOCK MARKET — VSE in the doldrums while Alberta holds steady course

More than a dozen western juniors post weekly gain of 50% or more Over the report period ended Sept. 16, the Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index fell 25.59 points, or 3%, closing at 815.95, whereas the mining index dropped 21.19, or 3%, to finish at 726.99.

In contrast, the combined value of the Alberta Stock Exchange rose slightly, by 14.2 points, to close at 2447.39.

The western volume leader was Alberta-listed diamond explorer Montello Resources, which rose 3 cents to 45 cents. The firm has a 4-million-acre land package near Ashton Mining’s Buffalo Hills diamond discovery in Alberta. Earlier this month, Montello and partner Redwood Resources announced that an

airborne geophysical survey had identified several “kimberlite-like” anomalies within the 1-million-acre southeastern block. The companies are now performing a ground geophysical survey, beginning in the northwest block.

Another relatively heavy trader was Voisey’s Bay wannabe Castle Rock, which shed 6 cents to close at 12 cents following the announcement that it was postponing, until winter, a planned program of deep-penetrating ground geophysical

surveying over its OKG property in Labrador.

After languishing below $2 throughout much of the summer, Vancouver-based amethyst miners Vantage Enterprises gained $1.25 to close at $2.80. The company recently reported it had reached agreements with contractors at its Mbwiko mine in Zambia, and had favorable meetings with gem dealers in the New-Age mecca of California. Trading in Vantage stock was halted by the exchange from December to mid-March as a result of exaggerated production figures published by Vantage, as well as for allegedly improper trading by the firm’s then-president, Dil Gujral (who has since resigned his posts as president and director).

Westward Exploration rose to 85 cents from 55 cents upon news that it entered into an agreement with Toronto-based MacMillan Gold to earn a half interest in the Armonia epithermal gold project in west-central Peru, where a grassroots exploration program is under way.

Alberta-listed Telkwa Gold staged a bit of a comeback from a slow decline over the past few months, rising 9 cents to 20 cents. The company holds a gold-silver-copper prospect in northwestern British Columbia’s Telkwa Pass area. In August, the firm withdrew a previously announced public offering of flow-through shares and warrants, choosing instead to place privately 500,000 flow-through shares at 25 cents apiece.

After plummeting in value over recent months, Odin Mining recovered slightly, rising 14 cents to close at 30 cents. In August, the firm agreed to acquire Newmont Gold’s 7,900-ha Mozo epithermal gold property in Ecuador.

Among the week’s losers was Alberta-listed Plata Mining. The issue, which once regularly traded above the $1 level, hit a new 1-year low, dropping to 27 cents from 49 cents over the week. The firm continues to hold two gold and zinc properties in northwestern Argentina, but has so far failed to attract the additional funds needed to continue its slow-paced exploration program.

Stellar Metals, which owns three laterite nickel-cobalt properties in the Philippines, dropped a whopping 78 cents to close at $1.12. Management issued a statement that no corporate developments could explain the dive and that progress is being made in obtaining an environmental permit for the Palawan property, from which the company plans to ship saprolite ore to Japan.

Grayd Resource fell 57 cents to $1.82. The firm has an option to acquire a 100% interest in five claim groups from Pacific Northwest Resources in Alaska’s Bonnifield district.

Takla Star Resources fell 55 cents to $1.80 on news that joint-venture partner and operator NDT Ventures encountered “no economic mineralization” in drill-hole 28-61, sunk 524 metres into the base of a troctolite intrusion at the company’s Voisey’s Bay property in Labrador. The magnetotelluric anomaly may have been an expression of a 5-metre-thick gneissic zone carrying 5% sulphides and 3% graphite.