Trading summary

It had to end sometime — the gains of the previous two days did not hold up on Wednesday, with the TSX Composite index falling 32.87 points to 6,559.68.

As has been usual whenever the markets sank, the golds found new buoyancy. The gold index recovered 2.88 points and closed at 187.04, for a gain of just over 1.5%. Bullion prices came back, too, with the London afternoon price set at US$346 per oz. and later New York trading finishing near the US$349 mark. Trading on the Pacific Rim after the New York close nudged the yellow metal past US$350.

Placer Dome was the most heavily traded of the golds, seeing just over 4 million shares move, and gaining 47 to close at $16.39. Barrick Gold was up a mere 3 to $24.38, but traded 2.4 million shares. The middle-tier amigos all made solid gains, with Goldcorp up 45 at $18.14, Meridian Gold up 52 at $22.75, Glamis Gold up 49 at $17.72, and Agnico Eagle Mines up 22 at $20.60.

Kinross Gold closed at $11.37, up only 8 on the day; it announced attributable production of just under 1.9 million oz. gold in 2002, at an average total cash cost near US$206 per oz.

Off-index golds got into the act as well. Thistle Mining, which announced a mill expansion at its President Steyn mine in South Africa on Monday, packed on 8 to close at 79 on a volume of 1.6 million shares. Cambior saw 2 million shares move, gaining 2 to close at $1.90. Silver producer Wheaton River Minerals was better as well, adding a nickel to finish at $1.37.

Things were quieter on the base-metal side, with the metals and mining index up 0.06 point at 130.90. Coal producer Fording slipped a dime to $33.39 as shareholders voted to approve a deal combining Fording’s coal operations with metallurgical-coal assets held by Sherritt International’s Luscar Coal and Teck Cominco. Sherritt was down 2 at $4.59 and Teck’s B-series shares rose 3 to $12.

The big jump of the day was Ivanhoe Mines’ 19 gain to close at $3.35 on a volume of 1.7 million shares. Speculators are anticipating next week’s announcement of a resource figure for the company’s Turquoise Hill copper-gold discovery in Mongolia.

Canada’s junior exchange gained ground as investors snapped up gold-related issues. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index tacked on 6.37 points, or 0.58% and closed at 1,094.70.

The diamond play on the Melville Peninsula in Nunavut once again took center stage. Shares of Northern Empire Minerals and Storoway Ventures both added to recent gains. The partners recently picked up more ground in the vicinity of their Aviat project located 850 km northwest of the territorial capital of Iqaluit. So far, two diamond-bearing kimberlites have been identified on the Aviat property. Shares in Northern Empire added 8 to close at $1.35 on a volume of just over 1.1 million, while stock in Stornoway added 1 to close at $1.35 on nearly 850,000 shares.

News of more intercepts in the low-sulphide, higher grade platinum-palladium bearing footwall on the Ferguson Lake property in Nunavut sent shares in Starfield Resources higher. The junior added 2 to close at 40 on 885,800 shares.

Investor bid up shares in Skyharbour Resources following news that drilling has started on its McKenzie Island gold project in Red Lake, Ontario. The 2,000 metre program will test the 1-km long stretch of the MacAndrew gold trend that extends across the property. Shares in the company ended the day at 21, up 2 on a volume of 756,732.