Alberta Stock Exchange Bitech doubles

After a long period of dormancy at the 5 cents level, shares of Bitech perked up 6 cents to close at 11 cents on volume of more than 2.5 million shares in the week ended Mar. 12. Bitech’s subsidiary, Betts Cove Minerals, recently signed an option agreement to fund additional exploration work at its copper-gold property in northern Newfoundland. National Mineral, a private company, has agreed to spend $675,000 on exploration in return for a 50% stake in the Betts Cove property. A field program, including diamond drilling, is set to get under way in July.

Two years ago this month, Bitech first made headlines after the company discovered high-grade gold on its Nugget Pond property in northern Newfoundland. That property, situated adjacent to Betts Cove, was subsequently optioned to Equity Silver Mines in a rare multimillion-dollar transaction.

Junior gold producer Durvada Resources traded 174,400 shares to close at $1.25 after the company signed two joint venture agreements totalling $3.2 million on three of its Nevada gold properties. Durvada is 53% owned by Durga Resources whose shares fell 5 cents to close 56 cents on volume of 79,500.

A total of 185,100 shares of Kingswood Exploration changed hands in the report period to close down 2 cents at 24 cents. Kingswood recently signed an option agreement with Noranda covering 133 of its claims near Matagami, Que. The deal calls for Noranda to spend $2.7 million in order to earn a 75% interest in the Kingswood property. Noranda’s program of surface geophysics and diamond drilling is scheduled to get under way this month.

Kingswood also owns a large land position spanning five townships west of Matagami and the company has outlined 30 base metal and gold targets for further exploration. A field program of line cutting and geophysics is currently under way in preparation for a 10,000-ft. drill program.