> i @ a strikes B. VANCOUVER (CP) + Low prices for base metals have given practically everyone in the mining industry gold rush fever. Jack Patterson, éxecutive director of the B.C. and Yukon Chamber of Mines, said gold has a pragmatic appeal because it is easy to sell for use in industry-or jewelry, it’s valuable to “hoarders and stockpilers” and cheap to ship. But it's more than that. As Patterson said, “There's no romance in looking for copper.” He said gold mining continues to appeal to independent types who want to stake their own claims and run their own show. In 1988, placer (gold panning) lease applications in Ac. were up 24 per cent to 1,787 and total claims staked in the province set a record of 106,603 units — a 152-per-cent increase over 1962. ‘Although the final figures aren't tallied, a spokesman for the provincial Energy and Mines Ministry estimated that about 60 per cent of those claims were gold. FINDS DEPOSITS Particularly important finds last year were near Cassiar in northwestern B.C., near Stewart in northeastern B.C., in the Cariboo district, north of Kamloops and north of Nelson. Just how big the gold rush really is and how much gold it will turn up is difficult to determine. Patterson said part of the problem is that a- larger-than-usual proportion of romanties are involved in gold exploration and they tend to be optimistic about the value of their claims. And Robert Cathro, past president of the B.C. and Yukon Chamber of Mines, said it’s too early to say whether it's a real, sustainable boom. In Ontario, gold fever has led to at least a dozen cases of stock market manipulation being uncovered by securities regulators. They found phoney tips to buy gold stocks scribbled on newspapers and left in mens’ wash- rooms at various hotels in southern Ontario. But Rupert Bullock, B.C.'’s superintendent of securities, said he has no reports of ion in this bs Demand ig also being helped by isolated retooling in and new cing needs of some catering to the consumer sector. .” said Seott Shelly, Mercantile Bank of Canada, the country's eighth-largest chartered bank. “The decline in business borrowing is at an end,” agreed viee-pr of Canada P Mort- orpora: slightly less than $80 million the last five months, ending « sharp fall that began in mid-1962. The decline, the first in decades, cut lending by almost 15 per cent between August 1982 and last September. But bankers caution that any resumption in activity will be modest because there is little capital under way in Canada. Many companies are still trying to reduce the heavy debt they before the i ANS SHOULD RISE Business loans are expected to rise by five to eight per cent this year, a far ery from the hectic pace before the recession, say the bankers surveyed. Growth in the 1965-82 period was at a compounded rate of 18 per cent a year, but bankers do not foresee figures this high again unless inflation accelerates sharply. “L don’t think you're going to see a return to the kind of rates of growth we've experienced in the past,” said David Rattee, an executive vice-president of the Continental Bank of Canada. Calgary-based Occidental Petroleum Ltd. of Calgary, aequired companies worth about $500 million. CENTRAL CANADA STRONG ‘. Geographically, demand is strongest, in Ontario and Quebec, the country’s manufacturing heartland. Alberta, once a favorite stop for bankers with money to lend, has not yet recovered from the recession. Even though there are signs of recovery, bankers’ said many companies want to cut their loan totals because of the high cost. of borrowing after adjusting for inflation. The favorite way of reducing debt has been to raise equity on the stock market, using the proceeds to pay down loans, With the decline in share prices, this financing route is becoming more difficult because investors are reluctant to buy stock. Companies have also held off financing on the bond market, in hopes of getting even lower interest rates. With the recent rise in the cost of money, however, this avenue of raising capital is becoming more uncertain, just like it was in the period before the recession. If the credit markets continue to be unreceptive, companies may once again be forced to go to their bankers to meet their financing needs, pushing up the banks’ loan totals, Bederman said. Mountain Ski & Sports Hut New gold found A major precious metals province. Another important aspect of this gold rush is the restructuring of the exploration industry. In the past, the majority of the work has been done by large mining companies who paid for it out of their cash flow. With cash flows limited by a slumping economy, large companies can't afford to do as much exploring and the gap is being filled by junior mining companies that raise money on the stock exchange. DESCRIBES METHOD Patterson said junior companies go to the stock ex- change, sell enough shares to get exploration money while still retaining control of the company, do their exploration and then sell good mining prospects to the large companies to develop. The deals made between the companies can be straight cash, a share in the mines’ profits or a combination. A study by the B.C. and Yukon Chamber of Mines says because of the activity by junior mining companies, many properties thought by major companies to have only small mine potential are being explored and devel It notes the Corona-Hemlo discovery in Ontario last year that started the gold fever was largely the result of junior mining companies. The Vancouver Stock Exchange can’t separate junior gold mining companies from its total financing figures but an h: said 1983 ing hit $204.57 million and nearly 75 per cent of the companies listed on the exchange are junior mining companies. According to the chamber’s survey, funds raised on the Vancouver exchange are being used to explore in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebee, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. But it warns that the shift to highly-mobile junior companies from major companies with long-range planning will require provincial mining departments to streamline policies, regulations and registration prac tices. prog has found four new mineralized gold zones and a new silver zone on the Tillicum Prop- erty, near Burton in the Ar- row Lakes. A news release from Es- peranza Explorations Ltd. and La Teko Resources Ltd. says the exploration program also confirmed 12 mineralized gold zones —four of which have been partially drill test- ed, with one having under- gone ‘preliminary underground investigation.” The findings on Tillicum Property “definitely warrant continuation of an aggressive exploration and evaluation program,” says the release. ———————E=E_—= Job openings Details of these and other job opportunities are available at Trail Canede Employment Certified Dental Assistant required in Trail 3 days a week (1245D) Port-time/work trai summer employment. (001P) Experienced Floral Arranger required in Trail, (620) Experienced Jeweller is required by a Trail firm. (247) VSE stock prices VANCOUVER (CP) — Prices were up in heavy trading Friday on the Van- couver Stock Exchange. Vol- ume to close was 11,489,191 shares. Of issues traded, 310 ad. vanced, 175 declined and 390 were unchanged. The VSE index was 1074.00, up 11.3 from Thursday's close. In the industrials, B.C. Re- sources rose .10 to $4.05 on 28,135, HRS Industries Inc. class A fell .10 to $3.70 on 2,833, York Centre Class A advanced 1/8 to $7 3/8 on 1,870 and American Re- sources preferred A dropped .05 to $3.25 on 1,700. Datel Industries was steady at $1.70 and Canlan Investment was unchanged at $4.00. sday mornings from 10:15, at Selkirk College Castlegor Campus. No charge. Phone Madely Mackay, local 264 to register your child Selkirk College Brace Resources gained .61 to $2.05 on 409,510, Goldbelt Mines warrants fell .08 to .51 on 236,300, Golden Knight warrants B dropped .02 to .86 on 186,500 and Golden Knight Resources declined 05 to $2.70 on 140,406. Knobby Lake Mines war- rants was steady at .02 and Rea Gold Corp. rights fell .05 to .28. On the devopment board, Ansco Resources (BC) war- rants gained .19 to .56 on 841,200, Clear Mines Ltd. warrants advanced .01 to .05 on 250,500, Ansco Resources (BC) Ltd. climbed .41 to $1.69 on 196,100. HOMEGOODS FURNITURE WAREHOUSE Tues. - Sat., 9:30 - 5:30 hi k FASHION SHOW MARCH 17 West's Ladies’ Wear WEST'S OR Pa na mehr at - toga #.¢. vinan sectors for smooth, quiet, enes lid with magnetic Our reg. 529.98 circuit 83100.. Our reg. 549.98 (Special Order Only) Fashions from rk A my A. : SAVE $60 on a deluxe Beaumark 12 cu. ft. chest freezer 424 Ib. food storage capacity. Features include 6 vinyl-coated storage baskets on two levels, and lock with pop-out key. Hi-efficiency c cC efficient operation. Flexi- for maximum cold air retension. Textured steel lid resists scratching. Al- mond. 50.5" L X 23.5"D X 36”H. Model 81238. makes sae 469.98 SAVE $50 on a Beaumark 10 cu. ft. upright freezer 4 full-width adjustable shelves plus 5 full-width door shelves for maximum storage flexibility. 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Similar features to the larger models. Textured steel lid, resists scratching. Almond. 21.5°W X 25°D X 36H Model 80528. Our reg. 359.98 Ask about our Extended Waltanty Coverage, ~ ae319.98 , Fadsons Bay Company i So NA eh Credit Union TOUGH LUCK . . . Rebels’ Brad Van Goor tries to beat flying puck out of the air and past Spokane Flames goalie Bert Brooker during game Saturday night. Flames blanked Rebels 6-0 to sweep the KIJHL west division in four games. CasNews Photo by Phil Colderbank WORLD CUP DOWNHILL Podborski likes ski race delay ASPEN, COLO. (CP) - Heavy snow accumulation and persistent fog cover forced organizers to postpone Saturday the penultimate race of the men's World Cup downhill ski season. Federation internationale de ski officials, after a 30. minute meeting, decided to try to run the event today, beginning at 9:30 p.m. Castle gar time. By the time the de- cision was made, the snow had stopped and the sky was clearing despite a weather forecast calling for continued snow overnight. It marks the second straight year that a heavy snowfall on race day has foreed Aspen organizers to postpone the event. The decision to try to run the race — instead of can- celling it altogether — was made basically because it is the next-to-last of the season and the overall downhill title is still up for grabs. A possibility still remains that if the race cannot be held today, a double downhill could be held at Whistler, where the final race is sched- larly Todd Brooker of Paris, Ont., and Steve Podborski of Toronto, were pleased with the postponement. Brooker, who won at As- pen last year, was prepared to race Saturday after miss- ing the final training run Fri- day with a badly bruised right thigh suffered in a fall during practice Thursday. “This definitely gives Todd an advantage because it's the type of injury that will heal relatively quickly,” said Can- adian coach Joey Lavigne of Ottawa. “He's been feeling better day by day, so this definitely is good for Todd.” Podborski, one of four men still capable of winning the overall downhill title, had been one of the best skiers in training but isn’t fond of ski ing in fresh snow. About 10 centimetres of snow had fallen by the time the race was postponed. That slows the course and favors less adventurous racers like Bill Johnson of the United States, the Sarajevo Olympic gold medal winner, and Peter Mueller of Switzerland. “He wasn't that encoura- snow,” Lavigne said of Pod borski. “And when you have someone who every day is getting stronger and strong. er and everything looks very good for him, you don't want to put it all in jeopardy in an unfair situation.” The delay also gives Pod borski a chance to get a bet ter start number. He had drawn No. 2 for Saturday's run, a position that would put Edblad him at a distinct disad- vantage skiing on new snow. Low start numbers are a disadvantage in fresh snow because the early racers are basically clearing the course for the later racers. The Canadian racers all skied off the course directly to their hotel near the bottom of the hill and Lavigne im mediately put them off limits to the media. 11 th in giant slalom By CasNews Staff Castlegar's Hans Edblad placed 11th in Friday's Fleis- chmann’s Cup men’s giant slalom at Big White Moun- tain near Kelowna. Edblad turned in a time of two minutes, 15.35 seconds, nearly three seconds behind the winner, Fraser Ross of Calgary. Ross won the event with a time of 2:12.34. Kootenay skier to place in the top 15. His time was 2:16.1. Meanwhile, two Nelson women placed in the top 15 in the women's giant slalom at the Fleischmann's Cup at Big White. Donna Markin posted a time of 2:34.33, and Crista Sumanik had a time of 2:36.55. The event was won by Ro- Rebels kn By CHERYL CALDERBANK Stall Writer Spokane Flames defeated Castlegar Rebels 6-0 Saturday night at the arena complex to become the 1988-84 . Hockey beague> West Division Champions. The Flames won the best-of-seven series by defeat- ing the Rebels in four games straight. The Flames won 84 Friday night in Spokane. Wednesday night in Castlegar they won 3-1, a score identical to that of Tuesday night’s contest in Spokane. In Friday night's contest, the Rebels made a good start scoring two goals in the opening period — one at 4:30, the other at 13:50 — to take a 2-0 lead. But Spokane came back with a goal at 14:57 to make the score 2-1 in the Repels’ favor after 20 minutes. Tom Carew and Dave Perehudoff scored the goals for the Rebels. They were assisted by John Obetkoff, Sean Armstrong, Lyle Stoushnow and Terry Argotow. Dan Holden scored unassisted for Spokane. In the second period, Perehudoff scored his second goal at the one-minute mark to give the Rebels a 3-1 lead, but the Flames came back with two more goals to tie it 3-8. Brad Van Goor then broke the tie at 16:32 with a goal, and the second period ended with the Rebels in front 4-3. StoushnoW, Armstrong, Obetkoff and Kelly Hurd collected the assists. For Spokane, Paul Brown scored the first goal, Charlie Goodwin and Todd Ulrich assisted. The second goal was scored by Tim Conyard, with assists from Ulrich. The third period was dominated by the Flames with ocked out The Flames got their third goal and the final score of the game with 38 seconds left in the period. A shot by Charlie Goodwin bounced off Kinakin's stick and uled for March 11. ged by the whole situation,” Canadian skiers, particu- the bad light, the heavy ISLANDERS BEAT LEAFS went into the net. Goodwin was assisted by Brown and The score would have been higher after the first period if it wasn't for the goaltending of Bert Brooker of Spokane and Kinakin for the Rebels. The Rebels could have seored in the second period, but they gave away the puck in too many instances and lacked a desire to win. But the Flames seemed to possess a drive to win and it showed in their skating. However the Rebels did outshoot the Flames 18-8 in the middle frame but just couldn't get the puck past Brooker. The Rebels’ shaky passing also contributed to their inability to score. The Rebels began playing better in the remaining minutes of the game when the action centred around the Spokane goal, but still the team couldn't beat Brooker. In the game, the Rebels outshot the Flames 50-32. Rebels manager Ron Rebelato, depressed by the outcome, commented that the team just wasn't getting any “bounces.” “The kids are travelling, tired, all the travelling they're doing. There doesn’t seem to be enough aggres- siveness . . . from the way the playoff format is set up. Coming off a tough series against Nelson, some of the boys are down.” But he did note that the defencemen played well and gave Spokane few scoring chances. each. Todd Ulrich and Holden. and Dave Terhune. score later in the period. the Rebels unable to score. Brown scored two goals for his hattrick, while Holden, Conyard, and Mike Mitchell, also scored for the Flames. Brown, Mitchell and Conyard got two assists each, Goodwin, Holden, Ulrich and Curt Nelson got one The Rebels outshot the Flames 34-26 and collected 34 minutes in penalties while Spokane had 20. Wednesday night's 3-1 loss to Spokane was disap- pointing not only for the players and coaches but also for the some 350 fans in attendance. All the scoring was done in the first period. Dan Holden opened things at 10:24 for the Flames, much to the anger of the fans who argued that the shot was offside. Holden was assisted by Paul Brown. At 15:17 Jay Olen put the Flames up by two goals when he shot the puck from the blue line and it sailed past goalie Dave Kinakin on the left side. Olen got assists from The Rebels received steady applause from their mascot Yosemite Sam and the fans roared when Mike Corbett scored at 17:35 with help from Dave Perehudoff Corbett failed on a second golden opportunity to Rebelato was hoping that with a rest on Thursday, the Rebels would be able to make a comeback in the games Friday and Saturday. He noted that Kinakin was the only player out on the ice giving 100 per cent. Kinakin, interviewed after the games, said the key to stopping Spokane was to concentrate on getting more shots on the net. “. .. We're not picking up on scoring chances,” he said. Kinakin said that the times the Rebels have had a chance to score, the puck has hit the post. And that gets the players down. “I don't think the schedule's tight,” he said. “Every. body's in shape. As well he said the players are relying on the goal scorers to win the game. The forwards haven't scored a goal in six periods — it's been the defencemen.” To Kinakin, playing against the top West Division team is like playing any other team. “Maybe for the rookies there's a bit of tension,” he said. But not for Kinakin, who says facing the top Goodwin-Holden-Brown line doesn't bother him at all. Tarasoff gets gold at Games By CasNews Staff The colorful musical his- tory of Fort St. John high- lighted the opening cerem- onies Thursday of the sixth B.C. Winter Games, but at least 200 athletes — many from, Castlegar area — did not get to see it. The athletes didn't make the opening ceremonies as weather played havoc with airline flights. The athletes couldn't fly out of Castlegar airport and had to bus it to Penticton for a later flight to Fort St. John. But Castlegar and area athletes made their presence known in the first day of competitions Friday. Dan Tarasoff of Crescent Valley gold medals in the snatch and in the clean and jerk. In the 56 kilogram class, Bhabra Hardial of Winlaw took the silver in the snatch, clean and jerk and combihed. Meanwhile, Castlegar's jerk, also in the 56 kilogram class. In other action, South Slo- can lost 15-13 and 15-10 to Port Alberni in girls’ volley- ball, but came back to down New girls 15-7 Wayne Woodward of Nel- son was the only other West sanne Gamache of Montreal in a time of 2:29.28. Montrealdouses Flames CALGARY (CP) — Montreal Canadiens scored two first period goals and that was all they needed as they dumped Calgary Flames 3-1. Steve Shutt opened the scoring a little more than five minutes into the game with his 13th goal of the year. Perry Turnbull then scored his 18th goal from Guy Lafleur and Larry Robinson on the power play to make it 2-0. The teams exchanged goals in the middle period, and the third period was scoreless. ISLANDERS 11 TORONTO 6 TORONTO (CP) — Pat LaFontaine scored three goals and assisted on two others and Brent Sutter and John Tonelli added two goals each as New York Islanders cruised to a 116 National Hockey League victory Saturday night over Toronto Maple Leafs. The goals for LaFontaine, 19, were his first in the NHL in two games since being picked up from the U.S. Olympic team. The sharpshooting centre was the Islanders’ first choice, third overall, in the entry draft last summer. Butch Goring, Bryan Trottier, Greg Gilbert and Dave Langevin also scored for the Islanders, who lead the Patrick Division with a won-lost-tied record of 41-23-2. -PITTSBURGH 4 LOS ANGELES 3 PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Bullard scored twice to raise his season goal total to 47, leading Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-3 vietory over Los Angeles King. Goalie Denis Herron stopped 34 shots to register his first victory since Nov. 23. He had been 0-10-2 during that time. Bullard gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead at 10:15 of the third period, tapping a pass from Doug Shedden past goalie Markus Mattsson. Tim Hrynewich scored the eventual game-winner at 12:50 with a shot from the left faceoff circle. Doug Smith cut it to 4-2 less than a minute later, tipping in a shot by Bernie Nicholls who scored with eight seconds remaining in the game to cut the final margin to one. QUEBEC 4 BUFFALO 2 QUEBEC (CP) — Left winger Andre Cote snapped a 1-1 tie with a short-handed goal late in the second period before Bo Berglund and Louis Sleigher padded the lead in the third period lifting Quebee Nordiques to a 4-2 triumph over Buffalo, extending the Sabres’ losing string to five games. The first-place Sabres entered the game hoping to boost their one-point’ margin over Boston Buins in the Adams Division. Instead, they must_now also contend with the Nordiques, who are in third place but trail by only seven points, a gap they might further reduce when the two teams meet in Buffalo tonight. The Nordiques victory was a continuation of their mastery over Buffalothis season — they have won five of the six meetings. WASHINGTON 5 RANGERS 1 LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Bobby Carpenter scored twice in 42 seconds as W: Capitals exploded for four second-period goals and defeated New York Rangers, 5-1. The victory moved Washington, 38-25-4, into second place in the Patrick Division. The Capitals, whose power play ranks 18th in the League, scored the first two times they had a manpower and 15-13. The Kootenay bowling team captured a bronze med- al, and in boys’ hockey, the Castlegar juvenile team dropped its only match. Fri- day — a 5-4 decision to host Fort St. John. Bryan Erickson put the Capitals ahead with a power-play goal at 4:61 of the first period, and Carpenter made it 2-1 at 4:11 of the second for his 21st goal of the season. On that play, Carpenter carried the puck out of his own end down, skated across the top of the Ranger zone, then moved down the right wing past defenceman Barry Beck, cut in front of the net and put the puck past Glen Hanlon. ST. LOUIS 4 PHILADELPHIA 3 ST. LOUIS (AP) — Blues right winger Joey Mullen scored his 32nd goal of the year with 2:35 remaining to give the St. Louis a 4-3 win over Philadelphia Flyers. With St. Louis on the power play, Mullen took a goalmouth pass from linemate Brian Sutter and cleanly beat Philadelphia goalie Pelle Lindbergh. It was the sixth game-winning goal from Mullen this year and it handed Philadelphia its second straight loss. The win also moved St. Louis into a tie with Detroit Red Wings for second place in the Norris Division with 59 points, one point ‘up on Chicago Black Hawks and 11 points behind division-leading Minnesota North Stars. St. Louis took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Greg Paslawski and Doug Gilmour. Paslawski’s slapshot bounced off the pads of Flyer goalie Lindbergh and trickled into the net to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 1:34. MINNESOTA 6 HAWKS 3 BLOOMINTON, Minn. (AP) — Steve Payne, Brad Maxwell and George Ferguson scored first period goals and Minnesota North Stars never looked back, knocking off Chicago Black Hawks 6-3. Fourteen of the 20 North Stars had either a goal or an assist as Norris Division-leading Minnesota moved 11 points ahead of the second-place Detroit Red Wings with 13 games to go. Minnesota took a 1-0 lead on Payne's power-play goal 2:18 into the game. Payne's goal mouth pass deflected in the net off Black Hawk defender Doug Wilson's skate. Maxwell made it 2-0 midway through the opening period, slipping the puck in between the legs of ‘Chicago rookie goalie Bob Janecyk. DETROIT 6 WINNIPEG 1 DETROIT (AP) — Brad Park assisted on second-period, power-play goals by Ed Johnstone and Reed Larson to set a NHL record and help Detroit Red Wings snap a two-game losing streak with a 6-1 victory against Winnipeg Jets. Park, a 16-year veteran, ran his career assist total to 646, eclipsing Bobby Orr's previous mark for defencemen. Orr played 12 seasons with Boston and Chicago before he retired during the 1978-79 campaign. After Thomas Steen gave Winnipeg a T-0 lead in the first period, Johnstone beat Jets netminder Doug Soetaert with a slap shot to tie the score. BOSTON 3 HARTFORD 3 BOSTON (AP) — Keith Crowder scored with 3:40 left to play in the third period as Boston Bruins battled back from a 3-1 deficit to tie Hartford Whalers 3-3. The Bruins had a power play for the first 1:52 of the five-minute overtime. They continually fired the puck at the. net, but Whalers goalie Greg Millen was superb. Leafs lead series Gord Pace scored 37 sec- onds into sudden-death over- Second game in the Nel- son-Trail series was Satur- time Friday night to give day night in Trail, while the Nelson Maple Leafs a 4-3 win Chiefs and Blazers meet to- over Trail Smoke Eaters and day in Spokane. © 10 lead in a best-of tn Nelson, the teams play: seven Western International ed through a scoreless first Hockey League semifinal period but Nelson led 2-1 at series. the end of the second. In the other semifinal game, Spokane Chiefs took a 10 lead as they dumped Elk Valley Blazers 5-3. Leroy Heustis scored for Trail at 18:28 of the third period to force overtime.