CP Business News

                        INDEX: Business, Forestry,
                        Mining, Technology; Stock
                        symbol RPP 

                        TORONTO (CP) -- Everybody's got the fever. Even
                        Canada's rough hewers of wood and miners of gold
                        are becoming Webheads. 
                         Repap Enterprises, a troubled paper company
                        best-known recently for red ink and executive
                        turmoil, caught the eye of investors on Wednesday as
                        almost 50 million of its shares changed hands on the
                        Toronto Stock Exchange. 
                         That sent the stock up 50 per cent in one day. 
                         It closed at 13.5 cents, up 4.5 cents, with no news
                        release from the company to justify or explain the
                        dramatic increase. 
                         No company spokesman was immediately available to
                        comment, but Fred Ketchen, chief of equities trading
                        at Scotia Capital Markets in Toronto, relays an
                        interesting tale. 
                         "The rumour is that this old paper company, which
                        couldn't make a go of it as a paper company in recent
                        times, is trying to get itself hooked up into something
                        high tech," Ketchen said. 
                         The idea isn't so far-fetched at a time when several
                        gold and gem companies in Canada have shifted focus
                        to the Internet. 
                         Sikaman Gold Resources, a junior mining company
                        based in Port Perry, Ont., said last week it will change
                        its name to SKG Interactive. It has sold its mining
                        assets to GeoNova Explorations and will now focus
                        on its online retailing arm, NorstarMall.ca. 
                         Sikaman's stock closed Wednesday at 65 cents on
                        volume of eight million shares -- up from 45 cents
                        last Friday and 20 cents Jan. 24. 
                         Also last week, William Resources of Toronto said it
                        plans to change its name to William Technologies,
                        reflecting its decision to move into technology and
                        Internet sectors. 
                         William, which traded at three cents a share as
                        recently as Jan. 18, hit 30 cents Tuesday on 44
                        million shares traded. Feb.10 was the heaviest trading
                        day with 66 million shares. 
                         In line with these trends, Nesbitt Burns chief
                        economist Sherry Cooper said earlier this week that
                        Canada should move away from its traditional
                        resource and manufacturing bases and put its faith in
                        dot-com companies. 
                         "Many will call this a bubble," she said. "It is not a
                        bubble. It's real." 
                         Ketchen said stock markets seem "mesmerized" by
                        technology companies, so old-style resources firms
                        that want to boost share values have taken the hint. 
                         "All of these things are driven by the dreams and
                        hopes of technology somewhere down the way. If you
                        can't make it as a mining company, make it as an
                        Internet-based company." 
                         Late Wednesday, Global-Pacific Minerals Inc. of
                        Vancouver said it was looking into "viable
                        opportunities in the high-technology sector to
                        diversify the company's activities beyond the mining
                        and mineral exploration industry." 
                         The gold-base metal mining firm, which has interests
                        in China, added: "A news release will be issued if and
                        when any significant developments occur." 
                         Repap is based in Stamford, Conn., and has a giant
                        paper complex on the Miramichi River in New
                        Brunswick producing coated paper, pulp and lumber. 
                         On Feb. 1, the company blamed low pulp and paper
                        prices for its fourth-quarter loss of $10.1 million,
                        which compared with a loss of $7.4 million a year
                        earlier. For the full year, Repap lost $48.7 million,
                        essentially flat from the year before. 
                         In early January, former Repap chairman Steven Berg
                        announced he was suing company president Stephen
                        Larson and the Toronto-Dominion Bank over his
                        ouster following a shareholder uproar in 1999. 
                          

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