STOCK MARKETS — Preliminary results from Voisey Bay buoy up VSE

Both the Vancouver Stock Exchange resource and composite indexes put in strong performances over the report period ended June 20, as the summer exploration season got into full swing.

The resource index added almost 2% to close up 25.88 points at 1,361.93, while the composite gained more than 2.7%, finishing up 21.91 at 820.78.

Buyers took a shine to United Compass Resources and Layfield Resources, with the release of preliminary results from a helicopter magnetic and electromagnetic survey. The survey identified “encouraging conductors” within a 1.5-by-0.6-mile zone on the companies’ joint-venture ground in the Voisey Bay region of Labrador. United Compass leapt $1.07 to $2.37, while Layfield added 25 cents to close at 83 cents.

International FreeGold Mineral Development gained 18 cents to close at $1.14 after completing the first in a planned series of property acquisitions in Labrador. The company is also working with two brokerage firms to raise a minimum of $2.5 million and a maximum of $10 million to fund work on its gold project in Alaska, as well as on its Labrador properties.

Continental Pacific Resources jumped $1.18 to $2.50 on the release of initial results from four additional holes on its Anialik-High Lake area property in the Northwest Territories. All four holes are reported to have intersected zinc-copper mineralization on strike from hole R-2-90, which assayed 15.28% zinc, 0.48% copper and 2.7 oz. silver per ton over 5 ft. Assay results from the four holes are pending.

Initial trenching results from the Guindo property in Chile hurt owner Arauco Resources, which closed down 34 cents at 66 cents. The trenching is testing a complex series of quartz veins, with the best results encountered in four veins on the B zone. Values range from 0.04 oz. gold over 3 ft. up to 0.73 oz. gold over 5 ft.

Getchell Resources did well, adding 32 cents to close at $1.67. Drilling is now under way on the company’s Rainbow joint venture near Teck’s Afton-Ajax copper-gold mine southwest of Kamloops. Teck, operator of the program, is working to delineate an economic porphyry deposit in the No. 2 zone, where previous drilling returned copper values in excess of 0.6%.

The release of an updated resource for its Busang gold project in Indonesia gave a boost to Alberta-listed Bre-X Minerals. The issue traded as high as $6.88 before finishing up $1.58 at $6.38. The indicated and inferred resource in the Central zone is now estimated at 34 million tons grading 0.076 oz. gold per ton, and Bre-X is confident it can outline an open-pit resource of at least 3 million oz. in the Central zone.

Sutton Resources is making a strong comeback from the $8 low it touched in early April, posting a gain of $5.50 during the week to close at $21.38. The company announced additional drill results from the North zone on its Kabanga joint venture project in Tanzania. The drill-inferred resource in both the Main and North zones now stands at 34.1 million tons grading 1.5% nickel, 0.22% copper and 0.13% cobalt.

Sampling results from the Cerro Samenta and Taca Taca Sur properties in northwestern Argentina are providing encouragement to owner Mansfield Resources. The issue added 49 cents at $1.45 on the release of preliminary exploration results, which included 0.5% copper over 820 ft. within a porphyry-breccia pipe intrusive complex on the Cerro Samenta property.

Nevsun Resources added 20 cents to close at $2.20 as drills began turning on its Tabakoto concession in Mali. A minimum 6,500-ft. program will follow up previous work which intersected 72 ft. grading 0.3 oz. in hole T-22 and 105 ft. grading 0.2 oz. in T-24.

A 1-million-unit private placement at $1 per unit will give Kenrich Mining ample funding with which to explore and drill its Corey property in the Eskay Creek area

of northwestern British Columbia. Kenrich, which hopes to locate an Eskay Creek-style gold deposit, edged up 15 cents to close at $1.07.