Corporate insiders are human, too.

With Canada Day upon us, they may be forgiven for thinking more about a cold brewski — or perhaps a nice oaky chardonnay — than stock trading.

But from the vantage point of the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders, Canada’s online source for publicly disseminating insider trading reports, it looks like these folks never completely rest.

The latest reports show that corporate insiders with Nova Scotia ties kept plenty busy for the two weeks ending June 26.

Value investor George Armoyan is a case in point. Clarke Inc., which Armoyan controls, bought 85,400 common shares in Bonnett’s Energy Corp., an Alberta oil and gas well completion company, at about $4 each and now holds 3.2 million shares.

On the other hand, Clarke executive Dennis Amirault bought 1,250 common shares in his own employer at various prices around $3.90 each.

Armoyan, through his holding company Geosam Capital Inc., also sold $206,000 worth of convertible debentures in Halifax hotel chain Royal Host Inc. to hold $1.9 million worth.

Then there’s MedMira Inc., the Halifax developer of rapid diagnostic technology, where someone named Urs Meile bought 120 million common shares at five cents each to hold a whopping 230 million.

Meile, it turns out, is the majority shareholder of a Swiss company called Vitest AG —MedMira’s business development partner in Europe and Africa.

Things were also busy over at Killam Properties Inc., the Halifax real estate developer and manager.

There, vice-president Dale Noseworthy exercised options to buy 1,000 common shares at $5.32, which she sold at $12.75. She also exercised options to pick up 1,500 common shares at $7.94, which she sold for $12.75 each.

Meanwhile, Killam director George Reti exercised options for 2,167 common shares at $5.32 and 14,000 common shares at $8.16. The transactions left him with 31,875 common shares.

As well, Killam director Robert Kay exercised options to pick up 19,500 common shares at $8.16 and 8,167 at $5.32.

In other insider trading with an East Coast link:

1. At Erdene Resource Development Corp., which holds a 25 per cent interest in the Donkin coal project in Cape Breton, director John Cowan bought 40,000 common shares at about 25 cents each to hold about 640,000.

1. At Halifax’s NovaCopper Inc., directors Igor Levental, Greg Lang, Kalidas Madhavpeddi and Clynton Nauman were granted options for 200,000 common shares at $3.11 each. As well, chief financial officer Elaine Sanders got options for 250,000 common shares exercisable at the same price.
2. In a private deal at Stockport Exploration Inc. of Halifax, chairman Wade Dawe bought one million common shares at 10 cents each. Director Brian MacEachen bought 200,000 at 10 cents each to hold about two million. President and CEO Jim Megann acquired 300,000 at 10 cents each to hold 425,000.
3. At NSX Silver Inc., the silver exploration company recently spun off by NSGold, chief financial officer Glenn Holmes bought 2,500 common shares at 16 cents each to hold 597,500, and chairman Johannes van Hoof bought 1,000 common shares at 17 cents to hold 11.1 million.
4. At Thundermin Resources Inc., which is looking for gold in Cape Breton, board chairman John Heslop bought 100,000 common shares at five cents apiece to hold 663,000.

(jdemont@herald.ca)