Trading Summary (January 23, 2003)

Toronto stocks edged 16.15 points higher to 6,737.43 on Thursday, led by the golds, which gained 2.68 points to 200.41. The Diversified Metals & Mining Index rose 2.2 points to 138.43.

Eldorado Gold was the most traded gold miner on the day falling a nickel to $2.32 with nearly 17 million shares traded. South Africa’s Gold Fields said on Thursday that it has sold 10.5 million Eldorado shares dropping its stake in the company to about 9.8%

Wheaton River Minerals lost 2 to $1.53. On Thursday, Wheaton tabled plans for a private placement of shares and warrants worth at least US$150 million. The company will use the funds to buy Rio Tinto’s quarter-interest in the Bajo de la Alumbrera gold-copper mine in Argentina and a 100% interest in the Peak gold mine in Australia. The placement is subject to regulatory approval.

Cambior and Virginian Gold Mines both headed south. Cambior dropped 3 to $2.13 and Virginia lost a penny to make $1.32. The partners report cutting a new zone of gold mineralization on the on the La Grande Sud property in the James Bay region of Quebec.

TVX Gold gained 13 to $24.53 on thin volume. On Thursday, the company said that a motion by Alpha Group has been dropped after Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice ruled that the company’s proposed three-way merger with Kinross Gold and Echo Bay Mines (ECO-T) does not trigger any purported rights of first refusal by the Alpha Group over TVX’s Greek assets. For their parts, Kinross fell 2 to $3.77 and Echo Bay grabbed 4 to hit $1.96.

Inco was the most traded base metal miner with just more than 2 million shares traded. The issue gained $1.47 to $35.15. Inco has declared a regular quarterly dividend of US68.75 per share payable March 3 on Inco’s 5.5% Series E Convertible Redeemable Preferred Shares. Aur Resources was next in line dropping 8 to $3.45 with about 1.27 million shares traded.

On the diamond front, Diamond Fields International jumped 22 or 67% to 55. DFI reported Thursday the recovery of 4,700 carats of gem quality diamonds from Mining License ML111 offshore Luderitz, Namibia. The m.v. Anya has been producing recovery grades 25% better than those outlined in MRDI’s 2001 feasibility study. The company also plans on looking at re-mining areas previously targeted by the Trans Hex joint venture.

Canada’s junior exchange traded heavily on a volume of 61.9 million with advancers beating decliners 348-to-289. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index only gained 0.24 of a point, or 0.02%, and closed the day at 1126.68.

Quaterra Resources was the most actively traded junior with 1.8 million shares crossing the floor. The junior has been trying to advance the Duke Island copper-nickel-platinum-palladium property in Alaska. The juniors issue closed at 18, up 1.

Oasis Diamond Exploration ended the session up a penny at 12 on over 1.7 million shares. The company recently launched a drill program over the Sigma target on the Enigma diamond property in Ontario.

Spider Resources held onto yesterdays 2 gain and remained at 7 with 1.3 million shares changing hands. The company holds diamond interests in both Ontario and Brazil.

American Bonanza Gold Mines found a penny and closed at 28 with 1.3 million shares traded. The company has completed mobilizing personnel and equipment to resume underground drifting operations at the Copperstone gold project in Arizona. Drilling, blasting and mucking operations have resumed on the project, with the objective of extending the decline to the bonanza grade mineralization of the D-Zone. At the Pamlico project in Nevada, the company recently completed 8 drill holes, with a combined length of 490 metres. Assay results are expected shortly.