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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

New York spot gold closed down $7.20 to $1,204.60 Wednesday. Analysts no longer expect the Federal Reserve to increase its interest rates in June, after the American economy weakened in the first quarter. Here in Canada, the TSX Venture Exchange edged up 2.15 points to 697.37 and the TSX Gold Index added 1.34 points to 170.01.

Major Canadian gold miners ended the day inconsistently. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM) fell 26 cents to $38.31, Alamos Gold Inc. (AGI) remained unchanged at $8.56, Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) rose 23 cents to $16.22 and Detour Gold Corp. (DGC) gained 90 cents to $12.90.

Roger and Alain Bureau's Pershimco Resources Inc. (PRO) remained unchanged at 19 cents on 24,000 shares, before being halted pending news. The company has arranged a $7-million private placement of shares at 17 cents. The largest subscriber will be Agnico Eagle, which has agreed to buy 30 million shares, boosting its Pershimco interest to 19.9 per cent. Pershimco will use the money at its Cerro Quema gold project in Panama, where it hopes to start production later next year. It will still need to raise $110-million to complete its mine. All-in cash costs are projected at a low $631 an ounce, which is why Agnico Eagle is interested in the project. It bought its first 19.8 million Pershimco shares at 40 cents last summer; they have since lost $4.15-million in value. Chairman Roger received $131,000 for his services last year, while son, Alain, president, received $421,000.

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