Miners push TSX higher

Canada’s miners powered the Toronto Stock Exchange’s composite index 70.44 points higher to 9,640.47 during the Feb. 16-22 report period. The golds surged late to end 10.85 points better at 215.16, as the yellow metal did the same to climb US$8.45 per oz. to US$432.85 on Feb. 22. The base metal miners contributed with a 14.94-point rise to 305.92.

St Andrew Goldfields was among the mining sector’s volume leaders, gaining 2.5, to 12.5, in heavier-than-usual traffic. The company said underground drilling at the Nixon Fork gold mine in west-central Alaska continued to outline additional resources. Trading volume was around 16.6 million shares.

Uranium explorer UEX was also busy, falling 15 to make $2.99 on profit-taking. Ten of 12 recently drilled holes on the Shea Creek uranium project in the Western Athabasca Basin returned significant uranium mineralization, with eight holes yielding multiple zones. UEX can earn a 49% stake in the project (which includes the Anne and Collette deposits) from Cogema Resources by spending $30 million over 11 years.

Afcan Mining jumped an impressive 11, or 42%, to 37 after acquiring an option to buy a used semi-autogenous grinding mill for the 85%-owned TJS gold project in China. The US$2-million refurbished mill is expected on-site sometime in the third quarter, much earlier than a new mill would arrive. Measured and indicated resources at TJS exceed 1 million oz. A bankable feasibility study is expected this month, with construction slated to begin later in the year.

Inco jumped $4.26, or 9%, to 48.11, after nearly tripling its recent fourth-quarter earnings. The company also inked a deal giving the three provinces in New Caledonia a combined 10% interest in the US$1.85-billion Goro nickel-cobalt project in the South Pacific.

The nickel giant also gave its brethren a shot in the arm by forecasting a third consecutive year of nickel shortages, given that significant new supply remains a few years off, and Chinese demand remains strong: Falconbridge gained 98, to $34.03; LionOre Mining International added 70 to reach $7.20; Sherritt International rose 29, to $10.36; Inmet Mining finished $1.30 better at $18.85; Teck Cominco made $1.41 to hit $44.10; FNX Mining grabbed a quarter to settle at $5.62; and Canico Resource tacked on 65 to make $17.10.

Among the country’s gold miners, mid-tier producer Cambior managed to recover from a late stumble and end 4 to the good at $3.17. The company ended the fourth quarter with a net loss of US$76.7 million, owing to a US$71.2-million writedown of the Doyon mine in Quebec.

Higher up the food chain, Goldcorp climbed 69 to $17.12, after its fourth-quarter earnings were almost halved to US$51.9 million. However, the company withheld around a third of its quarterly gold production, expecting higher prices.

Late-period labour woes sent shares in Northgate Minerals a nickel lower to $1.76. The company has closed its Kemess copper-gold mine in north-central British Columbia, where unionized workers turned down Northgate’s latest labour proposal.