Vancouver Stock Exchange Market receives healthy boost

The Vancouver Resource and Composite Indices both staged rebounds over the reporting period ended Nov. 20. The Resource Index rose 13.8 points to finish at 541.63, while the Composite Index followed suit for a more modest rise of 1.49. Market players tie the change in market direction to the recently released findings of the British Columbia Securities Commission regarding Prime Resources, Calpine Resources, Murray Pezim, John Ivany and Lawrence Page.

The commission found no fraudulent intent by Pezim, Ivany or Page with regard to the granting of stock options for Prime and Calpine prior to the release of material drilling results from the rich Eskay Creek property in northwestern British Columbia.

Although there are no criminal charges, the commission found that the three men had failed to carry out their duties to ensure that Prime and Calpine complied with securities’ regulatory requirements.

As a result, the commission will make a decision on penalties in the next few weeks. Although trading bans and being barred from serving as a director or an officer of public companies are possibilities, market players do not generally see either as likely.

Adrian Resources received a healthy boost from the commission’s findings, reaching a high of $2.35 before settling at $1.98 for a jump of 60 cents. The issue grabbed top volume spot for the week with over 3.2 million shares traded.

Prime Resources also benefited, rising 50 cents to finish at $4.40.

The release of new reserve figures by Fairbanks Gold for the company’s 51% owned Fort Knox property did not seem to help the issue, the share price remaining unchanged at $5 5/8. Using a 0.02-oz.- per-ton cutoff grade, the company outlined a preliminary reserve estimate of almost 100 million tons grading 0.048 oz. gold per ton. At a 0.01-oz.-per-ton cutoff the estimate jumps to 195 million tons grading 0.031 oz. gold.

Akiko-Lori Gold added 15 cents to finish the period at $3.55. The company announced that it is in discussions with a major mining company to provide funds for exploration on the Lakewater project located adjacent to the Eskay Creek property. The company’s joint venture partners, Veritech Resources and Tymar Resources, remained little changed on the news.

Good drilling results from the Dome Mountain project near Smithers, B.C., did not help Teeshin Resources, the issue remaining unchanged at 13 cents. The company believes the drilling could add a further 100,000 tons to current reserves of 324,000 tons grading 0.36 oz. gold and 2.34 oz. silver.

Avondale Resources was very active, trading over 1.5 million shares. The issue added 6 cents to finish at 33 cents. Avondale recently released the results for the final five holes of its 1990 exploration program on the Inel project in the Iskut River area of northwestern British Columbia. The drilling tested the AK zone over a strike length of 500 ft. and although the zone remains open on strike, it was found to be cut off at depth by a flat-lying fault. The company’s joint venture partner, Gulf International Minerals, remained unchanged over the period at 36 cents.