STOCK MARKETS — Slow summer continues on Western markets — Junior resource companies struggle for investors’ attention

Shoppers normally love bargains, but the rule does not seem to apply when the merchandise consists of shares of junior mining stocks. When markets are hot and everyone is buying, investors pile aboard, with the reverse being true when markets slide. Even so, there were a few bright spots on western markets, with some stocks posting modest gains and with hopes starting to grow that better days lie ahead (after the vacation season is over and everyone gets back to business).

The Vancouver Stock Exchange composite index was ahead by a modest 1.6 points at 803.45 over our report period. And some buying by bargain-hunters enabled the Mining Indicator to close up seven points at 720.81 for the same period. The Alberta Stock Exchange was not as lucky — its combined value index was off 38 points at 2,289.32.

Verdstone Gold was the most active issue on the VSE over our report period, jumping ahead 35 cents at 70 cents.

Verdstone and partner Molycor Gold are exploring the Dobbin property, some 25 km west of Kelowna, B.C., and investors appear to be taking a keen interest in the project.

Larry Reaugh, president of the related juniors, says work to date has resulted in a “major discovery of a rare deposit type.” The work program, which is testing the bulk-Tonnage potential of a known copper prospect, is returning values of copper-platinum group elements hosted in alkali mafic and ultramafic rock suites. Results from several recent holes include one that hit 93 metres of 1.56 grams gold per tonne, 0.21 gram platinum and 0.13 gram palladium, plus 0.23% copper.

Molycor was ahead 50 cents at 76 cents.

Cambridge Minerals is showing signs of life on the Alberta Exchange, with the issue ahead 3 cents at 18 cents. The activity reflects a decision by Cheni Resources to sell all of its investment in Cambridge to insiders and their associates. The purchase price was about $346,000.

Sutton Resources posted a gain of $1 to settle at $11 after announcing that Anglo American was about to launch a major work program at its Kabanga nickel project in Tanzania. The South African mining house would have to spend at least US$27 million to earn a half interest in the property from Sutton.

Sutton’s key asset is the Bulyanhulu gold project, also in Tanzania, which it hopes to develop into a mine on its own.

Nickelodeon Minerals, a junior busy exploring in Africa, was up 38 cents at 80 cents. Another African explorer, Fancamp Resources, was up 34 cents at 58 cents.

Bitteroot Resources is receiving some long-Overdue attention about its base metal prospects in the eastern U.S. The issue was up 47 cents at 75 cents.

Gitennes Exploration was busy trading on the Alberta Stock Exchange at presstime. Assay results were released from 11 drill holes drilled at the Zona Rio Suro discovery on the Virgen property in Peru. The results, while interesting, did not live up to the high expectations of investors, who bid the shares down 45 cents at $4.10.

China Clipper Gold Mines has been making deals behind the Bamboo Curtain at a fast clip, relative to the normal lengthy process involved in doing business in China.

China Clipper has a substantial portfolio of projects in the country, including exploration ground in the north viewed as being highly prospective for bulk-Tonnage gold deposits of the type that occur in the former Soviet Union. The Alberta-listed junior was up 35 cents at 60 cents over our report period.