Trading Summary (January 31, 2003)

Toronto’s gold stocks ended the week on a sour note dropping 3.42 points to 195.3 as the yellow metal shed US$2.10 to US$367.40 in New York. The TSX’s diversified miners slipped another 0.27 of a point to 133.89. Still, nine of the TSX’s other subindices picked up the slack and helped the S&P/TSX Composite Index to a 23.16-point gain to 6,569.49.

Kinross Gold took its place as Canada’s most traded gold miner falling 7 to $3.62 on just more than 3.6 million shares. Another piece of Kinross’ proposed three-way merger deal fell into place on Friday, as TVX Gold shareholders approved the deal. At presstime Echo Bay Mines shareholders had yet to do so. For their part, TVX shares fell 47 to $23.43, and Echo Bay shares lost 3 to $1.86.

Canada’s remaining major gold producers both headed south. Placer Dome shed 29 to $17.26 and Barrick Gold slid 40 to $25.10.

Fording was the nation’s most active diversified miner finding 15 to make $33.75 with just more than 972,000 shares on the go. Others on the plus side were: Falconbridge, up 7 to $17.10; Noranda, did the same to reach $13.97; and Teck Cominco made a nickel to hit $12.10. Teck, the world’s largest zinc supplier, tallied total refined zinc production of 361,900 tonnes in 2002, up from 290,200 tonnes in 2001.

Canada’s junior exchange ended the week with a late day buying binge propelling stocks forward. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index gained 11.34 points or 1.02%, and closed at 1,117.15.

American bonanza Gold Mining ended the session flat at 33 on just over 1.5 million shares. Toronto-listed Gold Corp has taken a 10.4% stake in the junior by being the largest buyer of an 18.3 million unit private placement priced at 22 each. A unit holds one share and one half a warrant, which is exercisable at 28 for a year.

Aquiline Resources managed to get a small boost from news that it had signed a letter of intent with New York listed Newmont Mining to acquire the Calcatreu gold project in Argentina. The project hosts a low sulphidation epithermal gold system 200 km northeast of Meridian’s El Desquite property in the province of Rio Negro in North Central Patagonia. Shares in the junior added 4 to close at 26 on a volume of 1.1 million.

Northern Empire Minerals got a lift on news that the junior will run ground geophysics and drill testing of at least 15 kimberlite targets on its 35% held Churchill diamond project in the Keewatin district of Nunavut during 2003. Shares in Northern Empire ended the week at 50, up 3 on a volume of 358,467.