Trading Summary (March 07, 2003)

The Toronto Stock Exchange ended the week with a 31.26-point gain to hit 6,359.86 on Friday. The gain came no thanks to the Gold Index, which shed another 4.3 points as the yellow metal dropped US$5.90 to US$350.10 per oz. The diversified miners chipped in with an 85 gain to reach 123.41 points.

TVI Pacific joined Northern Orion to lead the mining stock on a volume basis. TVI grabbed 2 or 25% of value to make a dime on the strength of 5.2 million shares. TVI recently poured its first gold-silver dor bar at the rehabilitated Canatuan oxide plant in southwestern Philippines. The company envisions a 500-tonne-per-day operation within two years. Northern Orion ended the day 2.5 higher at 22 with more than 7.2 million shares traded.

Major producers Placer Dome and Barrick Gold were next in line volume-wise. Placer dropped 21 to $13.77 and Barrick fell 55 to $22.10. On Friday, Barrick reported that it has sold all of its gold production at the spot market price so far this year. Placer reported the resignation of John Brownrigg, the managing director of Placer’s 50%-owned Western Areas.

Southwestern Resources jumped $4.20 or about 34% to $16.60. The company has tabled encouraging assay results from the first drill hole at its Boka gold project in the Yunnan province of China.

Inco topped the base metal sector trading just short of 1.5 million shares to end 31 higher at $29.06. Other plus-million-share traders were Alcan, off 16 to $39.84 and Ivanhoe Mines, down a dime to $3.01.

Canada’s junior exchange ended the week on a down-tick as advancers lost to decliners 309-to-321. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index lost 6.51 points, or 0.60%, and closed at 1,086.55 on a volume 41 million shares.

Snowfield Development was the most active trader tacking on 14 and finishing the day at 45 with 1.6 million shares crossing the floor. Snowfield recently inked a deal with New Shoshoni Ventures to earn a 50% interest in the Fate Mineral diamond property in the Northwest Territories in return for $20,000 cash, 200,000 common shares and $100,000 in exploration including 500 metres of diamond drilling this year.

Wolfden Resources tacked on 13 and closed at $2.70 with 1.2 million shares traded. The company reports that drilling at the Monument Bay property, in Manitoba (a joint venture operated by Toronto-listed Bema Gold), has returned drill intersections as high as 180.7 grams gold over 1.0 metres on the recently discovered Twin Lakes West Zone.

Navigator Exploration found a penny and closed at 45 with 1.09 million shares traded. The company can acquire up to a 30% interest in the Mellville properties (60% collectively with NDT Ventures) from Northern Empire Minerals, Stornoway Ventures and Hunter Exploration Group. In early February, Northern Empire, Stornoway and Hunter announced that diamonds had been recovered from two separate kimberlite occurrences on the Aviat Property, also located on the Melville Peninsula.

Consolidated Gold Win Ventures closed at 14, up 1 on 859,600 shares. The junior recently acquired an option to earn 100% in the ZZL and Cleft mineral claims in the south mining district of the Northwest Territories.