Trading Summary (September 16, 2003)

A US90-per-oz. fall by gold to US$373.10 per oz. in New York sent Toronto’s gold index 1.96 points lower to 198.73 on Tuesday. The base metal miners managed to add 0.07 of a point to make 157.9. Overall, the S&P/TSX composite index gained 50.08 points to reach 7,625.37.

Junior diamond explorer Tahera surged to the head of the mining class, grabbing a penny to make 14.5 on more than 8.2 million shares. Summer exploration drilling on the company’s Jericho claims in Nunavut confirmed as kimberlite, one of nine targets tested. The new, steeply dipping kimberlite dyke has an inferred width of between 0.6 and 1 metre based on six diamond drill holes. Some 18 kilograms of kimberlite has been sent for microdiamond analysis.

Zinc miner Breakwater Resources was next in line, jumping 9, or 26.5% of value, to 43. Breakwater recently optioned six gold properties on the Abitibi gold belt to Twin Mining. Twin can acquire the Normar, Malartic “H”, Malartic “H” Annex, Mouskor, Joannes North and Joannes West properties by spending $150,000 before Sept. 2004. The option is renewable thereafter for $25,000. Twin must spend $3.5 million on the properties and pay Breakwater $125,000 in cash to keep the option through Sept. 2008 and earn an initial 60% interest. Twin can then add another 20%, in 10% instalments, by spending another $500,000 and completing a feasibility study. Breakwater can be bought out for $1.5 million if it decides not to participate in development of the properties. For their part, Twin’s shares slipped 1.5 to 34.

Canada’s gold majors all finished lower. Kinross Gold was the busiest, dropping another 26 to $10.36. The stock has suffered since Newmont Mining announced it had sold two-thirds of its more than 43.2 million shares. Barrick Gold was next, finishing 17 lighter at $27, Placer Dome rounded out the triad, dropping 7 to $19.03.

After Breakwater, Alcan was the most traded base metal issue, with just more than a million shares ending unchanged at $51.93. The company has filed its new bid for French rival Pechiney with France’s stock market regulator, Conseil des Marches Financiers, as well as market watchdog Commission des operations de bourse and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Each body is expected to render its decision before the end of September.The European Commission is expected to deliver its decision by Sept. 29. Alcan has said it will drop its bid if regulators insist on a full 4-month review. The aluminum giant also announced plans to sink $25 million into building a new plant to build aluminum auto parts in Quebec. The Saguenay plant will create 35-50 jobs.

Canada’s junior exchange saw its biggest drop in nearly two months as investor appeared to lock in profits from recent gains. The S&P-TSX Venture Exchange composite index lost 9.88 points, or 0.72%, and closed at 1,368.52.

Partners Spider Resources and KWG Resources continued to trade heavily ahead of further drill results from the McFauld’s Lake massive sulphide zone in the James Bay lowlands on Ontario. Most recently the companies reported the discovery of a new copper enriched sulphide zone in a satellite showing. Shares in KWG added 1 to close at 12.5 on a volume of just over 1.8 million, while Spider ended the day at 11.5, up 1.5 on over 3.1 million shares traded.

Diagem International Resource tacked on 2.5 to close at 38 with 1.66 million shares traded. Diagem recently reported that the first two week s of commercial mining operations from September 1 to September 14, 2003, inclusive, yielded 378.9 carats of diamonds. During the period production, the junior reaped 50 carats per day on four occasions. The company is mining its Fazenda Chicoria diamondiferous gravel resource block in the Juina Diamond Province, in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil.