Trading Summary (January 29, 2003)

Toronto’s gold stocks followed the yellow metal’s lead and dropped 5.99 points or 3% to end Wednesday’s trading session at 194.48. Gold itself dropped US$3.80 to hit US$366 per oz. in New York. The diversified miners continued lower falling 0.62 of a point to make 134.22. Overall, the S&P/TSX Composite Index managed to edge 3.08 points higher to 6,573.17.

Placer Dome was the country’s most traded mining issue sliding 83 to $16.97 on a volume of about 5.8 million shares. Kinross Gold lost 14 to $3.55 with about 5 million shares traded. Barrick Gold trailed its rival gold majors dropping 39 to $25.10 with just more than 2.7 million shares on the go.

On Wednesday, Barrick announced that it has served Blanchard & Co. and its chief executive, Donald Doyle, Jr., a formal libel notice. Barrick is seeking “substantial damages and other relief” in relation to statements made by Blanchard’s in its an anti-trust suit alleging that Barrick and investment bank J.P Morgan Chase made some US$2 billion in short-selling profits since 1987 by “suppressing the price of gold at the expense of individual investors.”

Cambior, up 6 to $2.06 was one of a small handful of gold issues to end the day higher. Cambior has inked a deal to earn a half-interest in Cancor Mines‘s interest in the Gmini-Turgeon project about 80 km north of La Sarre, Quebec. For its stake, Cambior must fund $2.5 million worth of exploration and pay Cancor $100,000 in cash over six years. For its part, Cancor yo-yoed itself a penny higher to 36.

Alcan led a quiet bunch of base metal miners falling 33 to $42.47 with just more than a million shares traded. Reuters reports that Alcan is set to table an investment plan that will create some 400 jobs in its Quebec aluminum transformation business.

Canada’s junior exchange drifted lower with investors electing to stay on the sidelines ahead of continued geopolitical uncertainties. The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange Composite Index lost 7.97 points or 0.72%, and closed at 1,106.45.

American bonanza Gold Mining added 1 to close at 32 on just over 2.1 million shares. At last report the junior was expecting the assay results from an 8-hole, 490 metre drill program over its Pamlico gold project in Nevada and was gearing up to start underground drifting at its Copperstone gold project in Arizona.

Inca Pacific closed at 18, flat on the day with just over 1.26 million shares changing hands. The company holds several properties in Peru, including a 49% stake in the Magistral property, which hosts a total mineral resource of 105 million tonnes grading 0.74% copper, 0.052% molybdenum and 3.9 grams silver per tonne.

Sur American Gold ended the session up a penny at 13 on nearly 1 million shares. The junior recently picked up several gold, gold-copper projects on the Philippine Island of Mindanao. In order to fund exploration, Sur American is looking to raise $500,000 by selling 5 million units at 10 each. Each unit holds one share and one warrant, which is exercisable at $0.15 during the first year and $0.20 during the second year.

Another Philippine explorer, Goldminco ended the session at 14, unchanged on 369,500 shares. The Perth-based junior has been attempting to drill the Balabag gold-silver property in Southwestern Mindanao for over a year but small scale miners have denied access.