Inflationary pressures and slumping commodities made quick work of a late rally by the Toronto Stock Exchange during the June 13-19 report period. The benchmark index dropped another 190 points to 11,007.58. The golds managed to tack on 0.46 of a point to hit 259.99 even as the yellow metal slipped below the US$600-per-oz. mark, coming to rest at U$571 per oz. in the afternoon in London on June 19. The diversified miners were battered 3.62 points lower to 464.08 by falling metals.
Merger activity continued to dominate the headlines during the report period. Teck Cominco led things off, gaining approval from the Canadian Competition Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. for its bid for Inco. Teck’s class B shares gained 22 to $61.00 on around 16.1 million shares; Inco was off $1.86 at $63.68. Inco recently released updated exploration results in a move seemingly designed to entice white-knight bidders.
On the other side of the four-way battle, the Canadian Competition Bureau OK’d Swiss-based Xstrata’s takeover bid for Falconbridge. Xstrata also says that the U.S. Department of Justice completed its review without raising any competition concerns. The offer still requires approval by the European Competition Commission and Investment Canada. Falconbridge finished 27 cheaper at $55.02. European regulators are rumoured to be close to approving Inco’s preferred plan to acquire Falconbridge.
Shares in Armenia-focused Sterlite Gold nearly tripled to 23 in unusually heavy trading after sister company Vedanta Resources launched a friendly $68.45-million cash takeover offer. Sterlite’s key asset is the Zod open-pit gold mine, which hosts measured and indicated resources of 2.1 million oz.
Likewise, Pioneer Metals jumped 44% to 59, after NovaGold Resources unveiled a surprise 57-per-share offer. The pair has been embroiled in legal wrangling over NovaGold’s option on Pioneer’s Grace property, adjoining the former’s copper-gold Galore Creek project in B.C.
Aurizon Mines surrendered earlier gains to end unchanged at $2.75. The company has advised its shareholders to reject an unsolicited all-share bid from Northgate Minerals. Northgate edged 7 higher to $3.50. Aurizon says it is in talks with other interested parties, and is examining a variety of strategic alternatives, including advancing its Casa Berardi gold mine in northwestern Quebec into production itself in the fourth quarter.
HudBay Minerals was busier than usual trading nearly 19.3 million shares 32 higher to $11.87. So too was Miramar Mining, which finished 24 cheaper at $3.70 on around 15.7 million shares — more than half of those traded on June 16 alone. Both companies were recently added to the S&P/TSX SmallCap Index; HudBay also joined the diversified metals and mining index, and Miramar, the gold index. Miramar announced more encouraging drill results on its Hope Bay gold project in Nunavut.
TSX greatest percentage change
| VOLUME(000S) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Sterlite Gold | SGD | 11001 | 0.23 | 0.16 | 0.225 | +181.2 |
| Pioneer Metals | PSM | 1638 | 0.65 | 0.36 | 0.59 | +43.9 |
| Rio Narcea wt | RNG.WT | 26 | 0.315 | 0.25 | 0.315 | +43.1 |
| X-Cal Res | XCL | 511 | 0.41 | 0.27 | 0.36 | +33.3 |
| Intrepid Mnrl | IAU | 1191 | 1.45 | 0.75 | 1.18 | +29.6 |
| Peru Copper | PCR | 4882 | 6.05 | 4.05 | 5.65 | +26.1 |
| Moneta Porcpn | ME | 205 | 0.16 | 0.12 | 0.16 | +23.0 |
| Timminco | TIM | 739 | 0.38 | 0.20 | 0.31 | +19.2 |
| Cancor Mines | KCR | 43 | 0.32 | 0.27 | 0.32 | +18.5 |
| Sulliden Expl | SUE | 2102 | 0.74 | 0.52 | 0.74 | +17.4 |
| Scandinav Mnl | SGL | 71 | 3.25 | 2.65 | 2.65 | -20.9 |
| Yorbeau Res A | YRB.A | 52 | 0.36 | 0.32 | 0.32 | -20.0 |
| Minieres duNrd | MDN | 233 | 0.57 | 0.41 | 0.47 | -18.9 |
| UEX Corp | UEX | 3409 | 3.80 | 3.12 | 3.14 | -18.4 |
| Queenston Mng | QMI | 355 | 1.55 | 1.30 | 1.34 | -17.2 |
| GLR Res | GRS | 211 | 0.43 | 0.34 | 0.38 | -16.4 |
| Nevsun Res Wt | NSU.WT | 332 | 1.24 | 0.98 | 1.00 | -15.9 |
| HMZ Metals | HMZ | 470 | 0.095 | 0.08 | 0.08 | -15.7 |
| BrazMin | BZM | 202 | 1.74 | 1.35 | 1.50 | -14.2 |
| Silver Eagle | SEG | 143 | 1.18 | 1.00 | 1.01 | -13.6 |
TSX greatest value change
| VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Potash Cp Sask | POT | 2302669 | 92.41 | +5.19 |
| Lundin Mng | LUN | 299140 | 28.35 | +1.75 |
| Fording C C T | FDG.UN | 1367823 | 36.04 | +1.71 |
| Newmont Mng | NMC | 238146 | 55.00 | +1.52 |
| Tanz Roy Exp | TNX | 4365255 | 8.65 | +1.24 |
| Teck Comin B | TEK.B | 16113401 | 61.00 | +0.22 |
| Peru Copper | PCR | 4882020 | 5.65 | +1.17 |
| Goldcorp | G | 26534278 | 28.71 | +0.79 |
| Royal Gold | RGL | 20260 | 27.88 | +0.74 |
| Meridian Gold | MNG | 2164289 | 30.74 | +0.64 |
| ISh COMEX G Tr | IGT | 54691 | 63.02 | -3.08 |
| Inmet Mining | IMN | 1615615 | 34.65 | -2.20 |
| Inco Ltd | N | 10627255 | 63.68 | -1.86 |
| Alcan | AL | 10864148 | 47.24 | -1.31 |
| Inco wt | N.WT | 47588 | 34.47 | -1.05 |
| Banro Res | BAA | 224156 | 9.65 | -1.05 |
| Teck Comin A | TEK.A | 19927 | 69.01 | -0.99 |
| Tenke Mining | TNK | 2847217 | 12.10 | -0.97 |
| Centerra Gold | CG | 1430932 | 10.38 | -0.90 |
| Imperial Metal | III | 352006 | 7.10 | -0.85 |
TSX most active issues
| VOLUME(000S) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Bema Gold | BGO | 31644 | 5.18 | 4.54 | 4.86 | -0.20 |
| Goldcorp | G | 26534 | 31.00 | 26.75 | 28.71 | +0.79 |
| EuroZinc Mng | EZM | 19466 | 2.41 | 2.16 | 2.29 | -0.10 |
| HudBay Minls | HBM | 19282 | 12.93 | 10.28 | 11.87 | +0.32 |
| Kinross Gold | K | 17938 | 11.09 | 9.92 | 10.30 | -0.24 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 17716 | 31.42 | 29.68 | 30.50 | +0.06 |
| Teck Comin B | TEK.B | 16113 | 64.40 | 57.55 | 61.00 | +0.22 |
| Miramar Mng | MAE | 15699 | 4.30 | 3.30 | 3.70 | -0.24 |
| Eldorado Gold | ELD | 15176 | 5.07 | 4.48 | 4.79 | -0.02 |
| Yamana Gold | YRI | 12897 | 9.91 | 8.65 | 9.48 | +0.08 |
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