Trading Summary (January 30, 2002)

Despite a late-day run-up, the Toronto Stock Exchange ended Wednesday’s trading down 18.34 points to 7,548.8. The Conglomerates, Paper & Forest and Pipelines subindices all put in plus-1% gains. The base metals did just the opposite dropping 46.15 points or 1.1% to 4,277.92. The golds fell 17.83 points to 5,588.62.

The TSE announced on Wednesday that beginning in May, the 25-year-old benchmark TSE 300 composite index will be replaced by the TSE/S&P composite index, a slimmed-down key index of 200 to 225 issues. Exchange officials said share price and market capitalization will determine which companies appear in the new index, which will include 10 new groups. The TSE 300’s metals and minerals and gold and precious metals groups will be combined to form the broader “materials” group. The move will see about 50 currently listed companies dropped from the new index, including such miners as Crystallex International, and Echo Bay Mines.

Kinross gold saw about 2.8 million shares cross the floor to gain a penny to $1.45 making it the busiest mining issues. TVX Gold was close behind finding a penny of its own to hit 85 with 2.4 million shares traded. Placer Dome rounded out the top three miners list dropping 20 to $19.05 on 2.1 million shares.

Franco-Nevada Mining dropped 27 to $27.08. The company said after the market closed on Wednesday that its shareholders voted 98.7% in favour of a proposed merger with Newmont Mining and Australia’s Normandy Mining to create the world’s biggest gold producer. Franco shareholders also agreed to waive the shareholders rights plan, allowing the merger to go ahead. The deal is slated to wrap up next month.

Mid-tier producer Agnico Eagle Mines dropped 4 to end $19.21. Late on Wednesday, the company announced plans to would issue $125 million in convertible unsecured debentures. The debentures are convertible before maturity into common shares of the company at a conversion price of $14 per share. Proceeds may be used for repaying amounts outstanding under the company’s bank facility.

Teck’s B series was the most traded base metal stock. The issue fell 33 to $12.95. Alcan shed 80 to $59 on a few less shares. Falconbridge dropped a quarter to $16 after posting a consolidated loss of $20.5 million (or 13 per share) for the last three months of 2001. Consolidated earnings for all of 2001 were $16 million (2 per share) on revenue of $2.1 billion, compared with earnings of $368.3 million ($2.01 per share) on $2.6 billion in 2000.

Canada’s junior exchange drifted lower for a second straight day with advancers leading decliners by a 222-to-216 margin. The S&P-CDNX Composite Index lost 1.94 points, or 0.2% to close at 1,113.49.

GMD Resource ended the day unchanged at 17 on just over 1.5 million shares. The junior holds the Royce diamond claims some 150 km northwest of Yellowknife. In 1999, the company entered into a joint venture agreement, with De Beers, as operator could earn a 51% interest in the property by spending $16 million in four sequential programs by April 30, 2004. De Beers dropped the property last year but in September 2001, GMD inked a binding letter of intent with BHP Diamonds, allowing the major to earn an interest in the property.

New Blue ribbon Resources added 1 to close at 10 on 372,000 shares. The company recently inked a deal to earn a 90% interest in the Lac Joubert property, which is adjacent to Majescor Resources Portage project in northern Quebec.

Starfield Resources felt the onslaught of profit taking for a second straight day, losing 5 to close at 94 on 284,750 shares. The company is gearing up to resume drilling on the Ferguson Lake nickel-copper-platinum-palladium project in Nunavut.

Cantex Mine Development continues to trade near the bottom of its 52-week range, losing 1 on the session to close at 7 on 215,000 shares. The Charles Fipke-led company is in the middle of a $1 million financing comprising 10 million units priced at 10 each. Some $750,000 of the proceeds is earmarked for ongoing gold and base metal exploration in Yemen.