Trading Summary (April 29, 2003)

The Toronto Stock Exchange missed out on the late day rally seen on other major North American exchanges to finish Tuesday’s trading session off 3.27 points at 6,545.39.The golds helped power the slide with a 2.52-point or 1.6% drop to 151.26. The base metal miners edged up another 0.36 of a point to 119.09.

Placer Dome was outpaced by its gold producing counterparts, dropping 18 to $13.97 on just short of 1.4 million shares. On Tuesday, Placer posted first-quarter earnings of US$64 million (or 16 per share), up from US$37 million (11 per share) a year earlier. The company also announced the discovery of the Cortez Hills mineralized zone, near its Cortez mine in Nevada. Placer pegs the deposit’s measured and indicated resource at 22.3 million tonnes running 2.95 grams gold at a cutoff of 0.14 gram gold.

The remaining major gold producers were busier, but suffered similar losses. Kinross Gold was the busiest of the trio, shedding 29 to $8.46 on 2.4 million shares; Barrick Gold. finished 24 poorer at $21.48 on about 2.2 million shares.

Late on Monday, Barrick said that its Bulyanhulu mine in Tanzania would likely not achieve the 415,000 oz. of production expected in 2003. Underground tonnage is expected to suffer, as damaged mining equipment is replaced.

NovaGold Resources managed to swim against the current to an 11 gain to $3.79. On Monday, the company said it plans to advance the Rock Creek project in Alaska to a production decision on its own after TNR Resources dropped an option on the project. A 10,0000-metre infill drill program is underway to provide data for a feasibility study. A production decision would follow in 2004.

Also active in the junior ranks were Wheaton River Minerals, off a nickel at $1.20 on about 3.8 million shares and Eldorado Gold, which slipped 2 pennies to $1.90 on around 2.7 million shares.

Teck Cominco‘s B shares were the most active base metal issue, falling 13 to $10.20; Inco saw half as many shares find their way 14 lower to $26.65.

Falconbridge garbbe 45 to make $16.25 on 311,385 shares after extending by a month a planned 9-week summer shutdown of refining operations at its Kidd metallurgical site in Timmins, Ont.

Canada’s junior exchange continued its recent trend of moving in the opposite direction of the nation’s major bourse. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index gained 3.06 points, or 0.30% and closed at 1,030.69.

Spider Resources continued to dominate the trading floor, ending the day flat at 13 on over 2.4 million shares traded. Investors sold off the shares yesterday following the latest drill results from the Spider #3 massive sulphide project in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario. Hole 6 drilled below the previously reported massive sulphides in the first two holes intersecting 2.9% Copper and 0.45% zinc over 5.6 metres and a deeper zinc-rich section running 5.4% zinc and 0.3% copper over 9.65 metres. Holes 3 and 4 were drilled 100 metres to the northeast with hole 3 yielding 5.25% zinc and 0.58% copper over 3.95 metres. Hole 4 testing the down dip continuation of the mineralization intersecting 2.41% zinc and 0.495% copper over 8.7 metres.

New Shoshoni Ventures dropped 3 to close at 55 on 356,800 shares traded. The junior has sent in one holes of a recently completed 3-hole program over the DB-2 kimberlite near the Drybones Bay kimberlite in the Northwest Territories for analysis.

Philex Gold added 3 to close at 55 on 336,500 shares. The junior, along with partner Anglo American has five drill rigs turning on the North copper-gold property in the Philippines.