Trading Summary (September 24, 2002)

The Toronto Stock Exchange yo-yoed itself to a 6,068.33-point close on Tuesday, 11.75 points off of Monday’s close. The gold index, powered by a US$3.40-per-oz. gain by the yellow metal to US$326.10 in New York, grew by 5.15 points or 2.6%. The golds led six advancing subindices. The diversified miners dropped 0.43 of a point to 107.18.

No surprise, the gold miners were well represented on the TSX’s top ten traded list. Placer Dome was the busiest of the heard gaining 20 to $16.10 on more than 4.2 million shares. Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald reports that Placer had upped its stake in AurionGold to 42.45% as of Sept. 20. The newspaper also says that that figure is now probably closer to 45%. Placer’s bid, which has been extended seven times, currently expires on Oct. 2.

Kinross Gold was next in line trading about 3.5 million shares to a 10 gain to $3.69. Contract miner Dynatec grabbed 7 to make 82 and Barrick Gold made $1.17 to hit $28.55 on just under 2.9 million shares to round out the

Mid-tier producer GoldCorp added 61 to settle at $17.80 and Wheaton River Minerals rose a dime to $1.27. Both issues saw more than 1 million shares cross the floor.

Alcan remained the most traded base metal miner, shedding $1.29 to $37.76 on nearly 1.8 million shares. Most of the others put in similar performances.

Standing out was Ivanhoe Mines, which finished 15 higher at $3.30 on more than half a million shares. On Tuesday, Ivanhoe announced plans to take a 42.2% stake in Vancouver-listed junior explorer Pacific Minerals.

LionOre Mining International climbed 20 to $3.60. The company recently launched an A85-per-share bid for the 20% stake it doesn’t already own in its Australian-listed subsidiary LionOre Australia (Nickel). The bid is aimed at about 27 million shares, and is valued at around A$23 million.

Canada’s junior exchange slipped further into the red on heavy volume. The S&P TSX Venture Exchange composite index lost 6.14 points or 0.6%, and closed at 969.32.

American Bonanza Gold Mining ended the day unchanged at 16 on 420,500 shares. The company is aiming to advance the Copperstone project in Arizona, which hosts an estimated total resource of 2.1 million tons grading 0.58 oz. gold per ton.

Quaterra Resources continued to hover a 52-week lows, ending the session flat at 6 on 193,500 shares. The company has been working the Duke Island nickel sulphide prospect in Alaska.

Getting a boost from an increase in the price of bullion, IMA Explorations added 2 to close at 52 on 134,500 shares. Work is currently underway on its wholly owned Las Bayas, Los Toros and Victoria properties in Chubut province of Argentina. The program consists of geological mapping, detailed soil, rock, and silt sampling.

Diagem International ended the day flat at 18 on 238,000 shares. The junior reported that all three of the planned diamond processing plants (50cu.m per hour total capacity) are now up and running. During the initial start-up period 133 diamonds including 15 diamonds over one carat were recovered, yielding an average weight of 0.44 carats, the largest being 3.7 carats. The plants are located in the Juina Diamond Province in Mato Grosso State, Brazil.