Palladium sets record, takes NAP along for ride

The big news of the Dec. 6-12 report period was the surge in palladium prices. The metal, once again benefiting from uncertain Russian supplies, climbed $80 to a London record of US$935 per oz. on the morning of Dec. 19.

Basking in the market turmoil, North American Palladium jumped 85 during the period to $14.50 to land itself in the Toronto Stock Exchange’s 300 index. North American Palladium, Canada’s only primary producer of palladium, ended the period just $1.30 shy of its 52-week high.

Also riding on palladium’s coattails, platinum touched a 13-year high of US$625 before settling back to US$622 per oz. for a gain of $23 over the week. Gold and silver failed to share in the euphoria, with the former sinking 90 to US$269.95 per oz. and the latter slipping 6 to US$4.65 per oz.

At the period’s end, Barrick Gold announced a further delay to the start of construction at the Pascua-Lama gold-silver project on the border of Chile and Argentina. The operation was scheduled to produce 800,000 oz. in 2003, but whether this will depress Barrick’s overall production that year remains to be seen. Barrick jumped $1.28 over the period (to $24.18), only to retreat $1.18 by presstime.

Also up over the period were Placer Dome, which climbed 15 to $14.05, and Kinross Gold, which edged ahead 7 to 97.

Base metals were a mixed bag, with nickel and lead slumping but copper and zinc rising. Although this resulted in similarly mixed performances by producers, the metals and minerals sub-group climbed 23.27 points to 3,679.32.

Noranda, which announced it will acquire a high-grade zinc deposit in Australia, fell 45 to $14.95. It was followed by Falconbridge, which slipped 10 to $17.85. Among the gainers were Teck, up 15 to $13.50, Cominco, up $1 to $21.95, and Sherritt International, up 25 to $4.15

Also up was Inco, which announced it had entered the next phase of its Goro nickel-cobalt project in New Caledonia, which remains on schedule for startup by early 2005. Inco ended 48 higher at $24.13.

Mansfield Minerals, which rose 10 to 75, announced that drilling would resume at the Rio Grande joint venture earlier in the new year. Rio Grande, in which Teck can earn a 55% stake, is comparable to Olympic Dam-style copper-gold mineralization insofar as it displays similar mineralogy and alteration styles.

Manhattan Minerals has drilled thicker massive sulphides in the B-5 target at the Tambo Grande project in northern Peru. The recent program yielded grades similar to those encountered at the company’s other deposits in the district. Manhattan rose 50 to $2.25.

Junior Orezone Resources, which gained 2, has taken an option on the Ghanaian gold properties of Australian-based Dominion Mining. Drilling is to begin shortly. Orezone ended the period at 13.