STOCK MARKETS — Commonwealth trades heavily on news of

Diamond fever sparked a feeding frenzy on western markets during the week ended Nov. 17, helping to boost the Vancouver Stock Exchange resource index by more than 20 points to the 570 level and the composite index by six points to 566.30.

The Alberta Stock Exchange composite index finished up 15.9 points at 901.15.

Commonwealth Gold, with partners Aber Resources and SouthernEra Resources, announced that a drill hole on their Tenby property in the Northwest Territories returned small numbers of microdiamonds in two of seven samples. Although the company warned that the samples are too minute to interpret any reliable statistical or economic information, Commonwealth traded more than 11.8 million shares, peaking at $1.37 before settling at $1.11 for a gain of 51 cents.

The news that diamonds were not necessarily restricted to the Point Lake ground controlled by Dia Met Minerals and BHP Minerals Canada gave a number of other companies with property in the area a boost.

These included Almaden Resources, which added 16 cents to close at 70 cents; Dentonia Resources, which jumped 13 cents to 53 cents; Intertech Minerals, up 8 cents at 90 cents; Kettle River Resources, ahead 13 cents to 97 cents; Totem Health Sciences, which reported a 15 cents gain to 95 cents; and Williams Creek Resources, up 10 cents at 47 cents.

Lytton Minerals, which controls more than one million acres of ground in the Northwest Territories, hit a high for the year of $1.34 in the ensuing excitement before finishing up 27 cents at $1.17. The company also announced plans to issue four million units at $1.25 per unit to a group of European investors. Following the placement, the company will have more than 80 million shares (rather than the 40 million reported incorrectly in last week’s column) outstanding on a fully diluted basis, giving the company a value of more than $80 million.

Partial drill results from the first drill hole on the FORS property near Cranbrook, B.C., have some local analysts optimistic that owners Barkhor Resources, Chapleau Resources and Consolidated Ramrod Gold may be on to something.

The first hole intersected a wide alteration zone containing zinc, lead and silver sulphides. The companies believe the alteration zone is associated with a “Sullivan-type” deposit, and more drilling is planned to test this theory. Barkhor traded more than 5.6 million shares, adding a nickel to close at 50 cents, while Chapleau finished up 9 cents at 62 cents and Consolidated Ramrod lost 10 cents to close at $4.05.

Chase Resources did well during the period, gaining 43 cents to close at $2.39. The company, which has an option to acquire a 67.4% interest in the Taysan copper-gold project in the Philippines, released a number of old drill hole assays which indicate the project’s reserve grade is higher than previously estimated. Chase recently started a drilling program on the property to confirm grades and tonnage.

Referring to a trenching program on four vein systems on the Santa Elena concession in Venezuela, Crystallex International estimates probable and possible reserves to a depth of 60 metres at about 600,000 tonnes grading 8.38 grams gold per tonne. The company plans to start a 1,000-metre drilling program shortly to upgrade and verify the reserve estimate. The issue finished up 26 cents to $1.46.

Wayside Gold Mines gained 13 cents to finish at 60 cents after releasing sampling results from its Wayside joint venture with Brigadier Resources near Goldbridge, B.C.

Samples taken from the No. 8 level of the old Wayside mine averaged better than 78 grams gold per tonne and the companies plan to begin underground drilling shortly to test a number of old high-grade intersections below the No. 9 level.

With drilling under way at its Macuelizo copper-gold property in Honduras, Melinga Resources managed to add 14 cents to close at 32 cents. The company is drilling a number of confirmation holes in the Vueltas del Rio zone as well as testing four exploration targets. Melinga is also reviewing the possibility of rolling its issued shares back on a 1-for-2 basis.