Trading Summary (May 23, 2001)

Profit taking among the technology and gold issues forced the Toronto Stock Exchange down 46.71 points to 8,348.6 on Wednesday. Overall, only five of the TSE’s 14 subindexes finished barely in the black. The gold & precious minerals subindex fell another 82.44 points.

Taking over top spot on the TSE’s most actively traded list was uranium producer Denison Mines. The issue was unchanged at 22.5 on volume of more than 8 million shares. Over the past few weeks, the stock has risen to a new 52-week high of 23 buoyed by U.S. plans to increase the use of nuclear power.

Kinross Gold dropped off the top ten list with just under 1.5 million shares changing hands. The issue fell $4 to $1.35 on profit taking. Most of the country’s other gold miners followed suit. Barrick Gold fell 38 to $27.65, Placer Dome slid 17 to $17.93, TVX Gold shed a nickel to $1.23 and Franco-Nevada slipped 45 to $20.55.

On Wednesday, Placer Dome announced that its Golden Sunlight mine in Montana will continue to process ore for at least the next three months after closing a deal to buy 10 megawatts of electricity from Montana’s Public Service Commission. The mine was slated to close in June. Low grade ore will continue to be stockpiled, but the open-pit will still close on June 30. Last year, the mine produced 212,000 oz. of gold. The price for the power is currently being negotiated.

The base metal miners didn’t fare much better, falling 24.85 points to 4,977.84 as a group. Sherritt International went against the grain and led the way with a 17 gain to $5.35 on more than 2 million shares. Inco lost 85 to $29.65, Falconbridge shed 20 to $19.45, Teck dropped 15 to $16.20 and Boliden lost 9 or more than 10% to 80.

Canada’s junior exchange continued its recent winning ways with all indexes ending the day solidly in the black. The Canadian Ventures Exchange gained 13.48 points, or 0.4%, to finish the day at 3,294.94. The mining index tacked on 34.84 points, or 0.5% to close at 7,108.34.

New Blue Ribbon Resources continued to trade heavily ahead of drill results from the Moose diamond property in Manitoba. Shares in the Edmonton-based junior have doubled in the past two weeks on news that joint venture partner BHP has hit significant sulphides on the first two holes drilled into the property. New Blue Ribbon ended the day down 3 to 30 on 420,668 shares.

Kensington Resources failed to get a boost on news that William Zimmerman, former president of BHP Diamonds has agreed to joint its board of directors. Kensington holds a 42.25% stake in the Fort a la Corne diamond project in Saskatchewan. Shares in the junior ended the day at 63, down 5 on a volume of 179,000.

Naneco Minerals tacked on 5 to end the day at 25 on 125,000 shares. The junior has been riding the beryllium wave as it is earning a 50% stake Chapleau Resources Peg rare metal property near Kimberly, BC.

Shares in Tan Range Exploration ended the day unchanged at 55 on 65,800 shares. The company announced initial drill results from the latest round of drilling on the Lahulu gold property in Tanzania. All four of the holes targeting two separate areas cut gold mineralization.