Trading Summary (March 04, 2002)

The golds were alone in the red on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday dropping 115.66 points or 1.9% to 5,840.31. Leading the 12 advancing subindices higher were the Conglomerates, plus 4.3% and the Industrial Products, up 4.9%. The base metal issues gained 102.93 points or more than 2%. By day’s end the TSE 300 composite index was 151 points or about 2% higher at 7861.8.

In New York, gold slipped US$1.60 per oz. to US$296.50 per oz. ahead of Tuesday’s Bank of England final sale of 20 tonnes of gold. Going the other way was platinum, up US$14 to US$511 per oz. The base metals were higher across the board on the London Metal Exchange. Nickel rose US$300 to US$6,340 per tonne; copper rose US$55.50 to US$1,586 per tonne.

TVX Gold continued to attract investor interest dropping another 6 to $1.01 with nearly 5.5 million shares on the go, enough to rank as the TSE’s second most traded issue. On Friday, TVX said it was reviewing its options, including legal action, after the Greek Supreme Court annulled government permits for the development of the Olympias base metals mine into a gold producer.

The next busiest miner was Placer Dome, which fell 22 to $18.04 with half as many shares on the go. Most of Canada’s remaining gold miners headed south. Barrick Gold dropped 71 to $28.30; Kinross Gold fell 4 to $1.70 and Newmont’s exchangeable shares shed a dime to $39.50.

The nation’s base metal miners saw modest gains across the board. Inco grabbed 48 to hit $30.18; Falconbridge continued to regain ground adding 30 to reach $17.85; Noranda finished 38 higher at $17.87 with about 1.7 million shares making it the most traded; and Teck Cominco’s B series found 15 to make $14.75.

Sherritt International tacked on a nickel to hit $4.38., On Friday, Sherritt posted earnings of $51.6 million (or 33 per fully diluted share) for all of 2001, down sharply from the year-ago earnings of $115.6 (84 per share).

Canada’s junior exchange started the trading week off on firm footing with advancers leading decliners by a 247-to-213 margin. The S&P-CDNX Composite Index jumped 5.16 points, or 0.5% to close at 1131.66.

Boulder Mining lost 2 to close at 17 on 1 million shares. The company recently inked an option over the VVS and the VVT diamond properties some 25 km southwest of Ashton Mining of Canada’s new find.

Madison Enterprises continued to trade heavily ahead of its annual general meeting slated for April 17. Shares in the company added 3 to 13 on a volume of 866,500. Madison holds the Mt. Kare gold property in Papua New Guinea.

Cantex Mine Development lost 1 to end the session at 7 on 586,000 shares. The Charles Fipke-led company has been working gold and base metal properties in Yemen, as well as holding an interest in diamond ground in Greenland.

Moving up rapidly is Olympus Pacific Minerals adding 6 to close at $1.25 on 325,106 shares. The junior has spent the last year exploring two high-grade gold shoots on the Phuoc Son property 140 km southwest of Danang in Central Vietnam. The latest exploration results include the discovery of a skarn zone hosting high-grade gold values on surface.