Bre-X shares resume trading in Canada, U.S.

Bre-X shares resume trading in Canada, U.S.

TORONTO (Agencies): Stock in beleaguered Bre-X Minerals Ltd. rose on Canadian and U.S. exchanges Tuesday in the first trading since a frenzied selloff last week sparked by doubts about the company's claims of a huge gold find in Indonesia.

Trading in Bre-X lasted only 24 minutes on the Toronto Stock Exchange before the heavy volume swamped the market's computer system.

Trading in other stocks resumed after 50 minutes, but Bre-X trading was halted for the rest of the day after rising C$1.35 to C$3.85 on volume of 7.8 million shares.

Trading in Bre-X proceeded on the Montreal and Alberta exchanges and on NASDAQ in the United States. In Montreal, the stock rose 81 cents to $3.50 on volume of 9.3 million shares.

On NASDAQ, the issue jumped 3/4 to 2 1/2, with 10.8 million shares trading hands.

Bre-X had pleaded unsuccessfully with the Toronto Stock Exchange to suspend trading in its shares until completion of an independent audit of tests conducted on samples by Bre-X and by its prospective partner, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. Bre-X has cited its tests as the basis for estimating a find of 71 million ounces at its Busang site, while Freeport last week said its tests showed virtually no gold.

The audit is expected to take several weeks, leaving investors in limbo. However, some bargain hunters have been willing to buy up Bre-X shares following the loss of more than 80 percent last week.

Bre-X had promised to provide information that could have shed some light on why Freeport-McMoRan can't duplicate the positive drilling tests. But Bre-X said Tuesday it couldn't yet release a report from the engineering firm hired to assess drilling and testing at the deposit.

"This report is an extensive document which requires a more thorough review by Bre-X's technical team than initially anticipated," company president David Walsh said in a release.

Meanwhile, Two more purported class action lawsuits have been filed against Bre-X Minerals Ltd related to its Busang project in Indonesia, plaintiffs' lawyers said in New York.

One of the suits was filed in New York and the other was filed in California, the lawyers said. Both allege Bre-X and certain of its officers and directors violated U.S. securities law.

The New York suit was filed by the law firm Wolf Haldenstein Alder Freeman & Herz LLP in New York. The California suit was filed by Schubert & Reed LLP.

Earlier on Monday, the news agency Canadian Press said Bre-X had been named in another class action suit filed in New York, and a Houston law firm said the company had also been sued in Texas.