Trading Summary (March 30, 2004)

Toronto’s telecom and utility sectors were alone in red at the end of Tuesday’s trading session; the S&P-TSX Composite Index ended 67.01 points higher at 8,622.24. The golds gained 2.17 points to 226.79, while the diversified metals & mining index rose 1.52 points to 221.69.

Eldorado Gold fell 8, or 2.2%, to $3.57 on shy of 1.5 million shares after it warned that construction and operating costs at its Kisladag gold project in Turkey will climb owing to changes to that country’s tax regime. An updated feasibility study is due in May.

NovaGold lost a nickel to $6.41. The company plans to acquire the 44% of SpectrumGold it doesn’t already, offering shareholders one of its own shares for every 1.35 SpectrumGold shares tendered. SpectrumGold was formed last year to hold all of NovaGold’s Yukon exploration properties, along with Viceroy Resources’ (now Quest Capital) mineral assets in the Yukon and British Columbia. Shares in SpectrumGold jumped $1.19, or 35.5%, to an all-time high of $4.54.

Other big percentage gainers were McWatters Mining, plus 33.3% to 2, Globex Mining, 14, or 17.5%, better at 94, and Mazarin, which finished a penny or 15.4%, higher at 7.5. Mazarin recently posted a net loss of $14.1 million (or 32 per share) for all of 2003, compared with a year-ago loss of $10.3 million (23 per share).

Tiberon Minerals jumped20, or more than 9%, to $2.40.On Monday, the announced it has acquired an additional 7.5% interest in the Nui Phao tungsten project in Vietnam , to bring its stake to 77.5%. State-owned Thai Nguyen Mineral owns 15%, with the balance held by Intraco.

On the minus-side, Thundermin Resources slipped 1.5, or 11.5%, to end at 11.5.