Trading Summary (April 15, 2002)

The oil sector enjoyed a 130.78-point or 1.4% rebound on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday. The return of ousted Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez on Sunday led to a modest recovery in oil prices. Chavez says he will observe OPEC output quotas. The utilities subindex enjoyed a 241.91=point or 2.6% gain to end at 9,395.67. The golds slipped 24.39 or 0.4% as the yellow metal fell US$2.20 per oz. in New York. The base metal issues shed 8.86 points or 0.2%. Overall, the TSE 300 composite index managed to gain 30.32 to hit 7,761.3.

Kinross Gold remained on investors’ radar screens dropping 14 to $2.15 with 2.7 million shares on the move. The shares have enjoyed a run up inspired by takeover rumours and a deal to combine its operations in Ontario’s Porcupine camp with those of Placer Dome.

TVX Gold was unchanged at $1.10 with 1.5 million shares changing hands to rank as the ninth most traded issue on the day. Uranium miner Denison Mines grabbed the final spot on the TSE’s top ten traded list gaining 1.5 or 8.3% to 19.5 on a volume of nearly 1.4 million shares. On Friday, Denison said that winter exploration at the 22.5% owned McClean Lake mine site in northern Sask. Uncovered new unconformity related uranium mineralization in the Athabasca sandstone.

The rest of the country’s gold miners were relatively quiet.

It was the same case for the base metal issues, with Inco leading the way falling 23 to $32 on just more than 904,000 shares. Teck Cominco’s B series edged up a penny to $14.90 and Alcan fell 21 to $61.60, both an fewer than 600,000 shares to round out the top three.

Market watchers mostly remained on the sidelines as they await a host of earnings reports including those of Placer Dome and Alcan.

Canada’s junior exchange started the trading week off straddling the flat line ending the day basically unchanged. The Standard & Poor’s-CDNX Composite Index lost 0.63 of a point and closed at 1,156.52.

ECU Silver ended the day down a penny at 6 on 518,850 shares. The company holds the Velardena property in Mexico. At last count the property held total resources of 2.5 million tonnes grading 2.8 grams gold and 269 grams silver per tonne.

A big percentage loser, GMD Resource dropped 2 to end the day at 11 on 485,085 shares. The company recently announced that its joint venture partner, BHP Billiton has started drilling on the Royce Group diamond claims in the Northwest Territories.

Starfield Resources ended the session at 88, down a penny on 375,300 shares. The junior has the rig turning on its Ferguson Lake copper-nickel-platinum-palladium project in Nunavut.

Gallery Resources continued to move modestly higher, gaining 2 to close at 12 on 36,333 shares. A gravity geophysical survey is underway on the junior’s Black Bart’s Katie massive sulphide project in central Newfoundland.