Trading Summary (February 10, 2004)

A plus-2% gain by the energy sector helped the Toronto Stock Exchange finish 56.31 points higher at 8,751.51 on Tuesday. The diversified miners chipped in a 1.5% gain to 221.87, while the golds managed to scrape together just 0.15 of a point to reach 218.61.

Despite trading about half as many shares as it did on Monday, Tahera remained atop the TSX’s activity list with nearly 22.4 million shares traded. The issue retreated 7.5 to end at 48.5.

In other diamond news, DiamondWorks (DMW-T) and privately held partner Magma Diamond Resources report the sale of their first batch of stones from the recently revived Koidu diamond project in Sierra Leone. The 8,099 carats of diamond fetched US$1.8 million. Share in DiamondWorks ended 20, or about 10%, higher at a new 52-week high of $2.25.

Canadian Zinc put in a nice percentage gain grabbing 22, or 14.5%, to reach a new 52-week high of $1.74. The company recently inked a deal to buy Titan Logix’s 2% net smelter return royalty interest in the Prairie Creek mine property in the Northwest Territories. The past producer is home to a mineral resource of 11.9 million tonnes grading 12.5% zinc, 10.1% lead, 0.4% copper plus 161 grams silver per tonne. CZ now owns the mine outright, and is working to reopen it.

Defiance Mining advanced a nickel, or 8%, to 65. On Monday, the company tabled plans for a US$400,000, 1,500-metre drill program on its Tasiast gold project in Mauritania. The program will focus on untested strike extensions between the Tasiast deposits, a geochemical anomaly that is off the main mineralized trend, and ill-defined areas of the deposit. Drilling will begin in eth second half of March. Geochemical sampling is also planned on the little-explored Karet exploration tenements, 400 km east of Zouerate, in north central Mauritania.

Zinc miner Breakwater Resources was the most traded base metal miner with a shade more than 2 million shares finding their way 17 higher to $7.20. FNX Mining saw the best percentage gain on the subindex rising 3.2% to $7.65.

On Tuesday, FNX signed an option/joint venture agreement with Maple Minerals at the recently optioned Mt. Kakoulima polymetallic exploration project in Guinea, West Africa. Under the deal, Maple can acquire a 50% interest in FNX’s rights in the Afcan option by funding US$2.4 million worth of exploration over five years; Maple must spend at least US$400,000 in the first year.

Canada’s junior exchange made a nice move as it followed the major bourses bullish trend. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index closed at 1866.18, up 14.23 points, or 0.77% with 106.3 million shares traded.

Spider Resources and joint venture partner KWG Resources have tabled results from the first drill hole of their winter drilling program on the McFaulds #3 base metal target in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario. Hole McF-20 cut 5.87 metres averaging 2.8% copper, 0.02% zinc, 0.5 gram gold and 15.5 grams silver per tonne, starting 68.4 metres down-hole. This was followed by a 4.2-metre section that averaged 0.26% copper, 11.8% zinc, and 1.57 grams silver, starting 91.2 metres down-hole. Spider closed the week at 20.5, down 2.5 with a whopping 13 million shares traded. KWG ended the session at 36.5, down 3 with 708,000 shares traded.

ECU Silver Mining closed at 32, up 2 with 1.47 million shares changing hands. The company recently announced that it has entered into a private placement financing worth $999,000. The money will be used to pay for exploration drilling at the Santa Juana mine, as well as for general production costs in Mexico.

Diadem Resources closed at 15.5 up 1.5 with 1.29 million shares traded. The company recently inked a deal with Darnley Bay Resources for a half interest in a large diamond exploration area near Paulatuk in the Northwest Territories. Diadem agreed to expend $5.0 million on diamond exploration over the next two years for its half interest, with the right to go to a 75% interest by financing a feasibility study for a diamond mine. Darnley Bay closed at 19, up a penny on 16,000 shares.