Toronto Stock Exchange Echo Bay issue suffers from market jitters,

When the going gets tough, trigger-happy investors tend to over- react to the slightest hint of bad news. That may explain the US$1.38 drop today, Nov. 21, in the price of Echo Bay Mines shares. The plummeting share price came in response to the proposed sale of Echo Bay’s 40% stake in the Robertson gold/ copper mine in Nevada where the company is expected to take a writedown on its investment.

As the mine accounts for about 5% of the company’s annual gold output, McNeil Mantha analyst Catherine Gignac believes the market is over-reacting to the announcement.

But during the week ended November 20 when investors were continuing to monitor events in the Persian Gulf while digesting the contents of Ontario New Democratic Party’s agenda, the general nervousness is perhaps understandable. According to statistics released earlier in the week, inflation soared to 4.8% in October, while the consumer price index rose 0.8%.

Gold producer American Barrick, down 38 cents, suffered a similar reaction a few weeks ago to speculation regarding the development of its Goldstrike mine in Nevada. While the gold price remained steady to end the week at US$377.30 on the second London fix, the gold silver index yielded 55.53 points today, before closing at 5021.48.

As Placer Dome moved up 13 cents while LAC remained even at $7.63, Gignac attributed the index decline to the Echo Bay news release. Another issue that has been under pressure lately is Corona. While over two million Corona A shares changed hands this week, making Corona the volume leader, the shutdown of Breakwater Resources’ Caribou lead-zinc mine in New Brunswick has been blamed for a recent decline in the Corona issue. However, the shares moved up 13 cents today before closing at $5.13. Two blocks of 2.1 million Corona A shares were exchanged on NASDAQ. The trades were attributed to dividend rental arrangements.

Officials at Northgate Exploration continued to talk with bankers this week in a bid to gain working capital needed for the Colomac gold project in the Northwest Territories. After hitting a low for the year of $1.30, the issue moved up 5 cents today to end the week at $1.35.

Prices of US60 cents per lb. for zinc and 35 cents for lead would add up to another profitable year for Curragh Resources, according to Chairman Clifford Frame. He expects earnings from operations in 1990 to be $2.21 per share, about the same as last year. The Curragh issue was down 13 cents today, closing at $6.38.

British refiner Johnson Matthey PLC says it expects the supply of platinum to outstrip demand this year due to the availability of the metal in Russia and South Africa. According to Johnson Matthey, platinum will trade in a range of US$400-475 an oz. in the short term. That isn’t necessarily good news for Madeleine Mines, which is trading uncomfortably close to its 52-week low. However, the Madeleine issue gained some ground today, closing up 10 cents at $4.15.

In the base metal sector, Sherritt Gordon this week reported a third- quarter loss of $5.2 million or 20 cents a share, compared with a profit of $1.7 millon or 6 cents in the same period last year. That reflects the shutdown of its nickel refinery in Ft. Saskatchewan, Alta., in two out of the three months. The Sherritt issue gave up 50 cents before ending the week at $5.38.

Meanwhile, Teck says it intends to redeem its series E preferred shares at $25 each plus accrued interest on dividends Dec. 17. There are reported to be two million series E shares outstanding.

Rea Gold says it has decided not to purchase 80% of Kookaburra Gold Corp. from Xenolith Gold of Australia because of what Rea Gold called “corporate and regulatory reasons.”