Vancouver Stock Exchange Prime Res. stock gets boost

Both the VSE’s composite and resources indices gained ground during the week ended June 4. The latter jumped by 23.12 points to finish at 541.92, while the composite index added a more modest 9.82 points to close at 568.91.

Gold showed some strength during the period, edging above the US$360-per-oz. level.

Putting in a nice showing during the week was Eskay Creek player Prime Resources Group, which gained 60 cents to close at $3.85. The British Columbia Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to the Eskay Creek property located north of Stewart, B.C. The challenge was brought about by Tagish Resources, which claimed a staking gap rendered claims hosting a large portion of the Eskay Creek deposit invalid. The Eskay Creek property is owned by Stikine Resources and Prime.

Tagish can continue to fight the case to the Supreme Court of Canada, but talk on the street here is that Tagish and its backers won’t have an easy time raising the kind of money needed to continue the legal battle.

Loki Gold added 24 cents over the period, finishing at $1.44. The company released drilling results from the Brewery Creek project in the Yukon. The best hole returned a 105-ft. intersection grading 0.17 oz. gold per ton. Loki is earning a 49% interest in the property from Noranda. If sufficient reserves that can be mined by open pit methods are developed, Brewery Creek could become either a heap leach or milling operation.

American Reserve Mining was active during the reporting period, trading more than 950,000 shares to close up 34 cents at 75 cents. The company is working on both its 66% owned Kutcho Creek copper-zinc property near Dease Lake, B.C., and its 40% owned Paymaster gold mine near Timmins, Ont. Exciting new exploration developments have been reported at Paymaster.

A takeover offer initiated by Jordex Resources for all of the issued shares and warrants of Moraga Resources did not seem to help either company. Moraga posted a 5-cent drop, closing at 74 cents. Jordex has offered Moraga shareholders one share of Jordex in return for three shares of Moraga. Jordex finished off seven cents at $2.70, making the takeover worth about 90 cents to Moraga shareholders.

Bonaventure Resources continued to gain ground, adding 35 cents to finish at $2.50. The company hopes to bring a calcium carbonate deposit in Mexico into production.

Partners Eurus Resource and Thios Resources plan to begin drilling shortly on their Rock & Roll property in northwestern British Columbia. Eurus added 19 cents on the week, closing at $2.05, while Thios edged up three cents to 45 cents.