Westmin earns more in quarter

Westmin Resources has found a 500-ft. eastward extension to the H-W massive sulphide deposit being developed at Myra Falls on Vancouver Island.

A $20-million shaft-sinking program is more than halfway to its projected 2,500-ft. depth. Chairman A.W. Farmilo and president Paul Marshall both describe it as “perhaps one of the larger base metal deposits of its type in Canada.”

The company enjoyed higher earnings for the first eight months of 1981, even though third-quarter profits were off somewhat. The 9-month net profit amounted to $25.6 million, up from $24.4 million in the corresponding period last year, whereas third quarter earnings slipped to $8.2 million from $8.8 million.

NB gets $360m zinc plant

In what promises to be a shot in the arm for New Brunswick and the Canadian economy as a whole, Brunswick Mining & Smelting and Heath Steele Mines will proceed with construction of a zinc reduction plant in the village of Belledune. The project is split 66-34, respectively, between the two companies.

Engineering and planning are already completed, with construction slated to begin in May. Completion is targeted for late 1984. The total cost of the project is pegged at $360 million, including government grants totalling $35 million.

Both companies have built up tax credits and will borrow the remaining $150-170 million required.

Lupin on schedule

Development of the Lupin gold mine, near Contwoyto Lake in the Northwest Territories, is proceeding on schedule.

Although Echo Bay Mines President John Zigarlick concedes that the cost of bringing the mine into production will be higher than anticipated, reserves have been revised upwards to a substantial degree.

Lupin is to start up in mid-1982, at roughly $20 million in excess of the previous estimate of $108 million.

Consulting geologists estimate that reserves total 1.1 million oz. in the first 650 ft. of depth explored

Meanwhile, the company’s 17-year-old operation at Port Radium, once described as Canada’s richest silver mine, will be phased out over the next several months.

New direction for gold?

Are we seeing a major turning point in the gold market?

Maybe and maybe not. It all depends on what, and in whom, you believe. And, if you trust no one, we blame you not, for so many analysts have been forced to lick their blood in ignominy. Their price projections fell wide of the mark, and their advice landed many in a financial hole.

Example: “By the end of this year (1980), gold will be US$900 per oz.; by the end of 1981, at $2,000. In the long term, there is no ceiling on gold’s price.”

Strangely, this “advice” was being sent at a time when gold had already fallen some 40% from its all-time pedestal. This happened in 1980, but 1981 was no exception. And today, some perennial bulls are calling for a price jump to around $1,500 per oz. in 1982.

The fundamentals that prompted the gold bug in 1980 to predict a leap to $2,000 and beyond were also present in 1981 and especially at a time when the yellow metal was penetrating the US$400-per-oz. mark on the downside.