TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE – NOVEMBER 11-17

Global markets resumed their slide over the Nov. 11-17 trading session and the TSX was no exception. The TSX Composite Index fell roughly 107 points to 8,795.45 over a period that saw U. S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announce a change in direction for the US$700-billion bailout package.

Gold had a rough time as well, losing roughly US$20 to finish the period at around US$735 per oz. The Global Gold Index tracked the metal price, falling roughly 25 points to 186.65.

The base metals complex continued to get hammered as copper, aluminum, nickel, tin and lead prices all fell. Only zinc managed to hold on during the period, albeit at its recent lower price — it finished the session at just US50 per lb.

The Capped Metals and Mining Index shed another 65 points to finish at 249.39.

Teck was the period’s most actively traded stock with nearly 100 million shares changing hands. All the attention, however, was not welcome. Teck’s class B subordinate voting shares fell $4.31 to just $6.64 — a long way off from the $51-mark they reached in May.

The fall has come on the back of a $5.8-billion bridge loan the company took out to finance its takeover of Fording Canadian Coal Trust. Since it announced the deal, coal prices have toppled.

The company says it is considering selling its gold assets to pay the loan. Teck’s class A share were trading at $12.49 apiece at presstime.

Fortunately for High River Gold Mines, its bad news may be behind it. After an operational problem shuttered its ball mill for the whole third quarter, its Taparko-Bouroum gold mine, in Burkina Faso, is back in commercial production. And while the good news was mitigated by the announcement that it would delay the release of its most recent financial statements, High River shares still managed to make a 60% gain to finish the week at 8.

The delay in reporting is due to concerns over the accuracy of financial statements from High River’s 85%-owned subsidiary Buryatzoloto, which runs the Zun-Holba and Irokinda mines in Russia.

Staying with the good news, Oakville, Ont.-based Forsys Metals leapt 33% to $6 after announcing that a group led by Belgian national and Democratic Republic of the Congo mining magnate George Forrest, would buy the company and its key Valencia uranium asset in Namibia for $7 per share in cash, or roughly $580 million.

The deal represents a 55% premium to Forsys’s 20-day trading average, and is a coup for the junior at a time when many of its peers are struggling to stay solvent.

Forsys management says if the deal is completed — it is scheduled to close in early February — they will turn their attention to an offshore oil and gas play in Namibia.

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Teck B	TCKB	99980	10.80	5.76	6.64	-4.31
Yamana Gold	YRI	47395	5.74	4.61	4.98	-0.89
High River Gol	HRG	46922	0.09	0.04	0.08	+ 0.03
Uranium One	UUU	36966	1.23	0.90	0.97	-0.35
Kinross Gold	K	35097	17.25	13.24	14.89	-1.44
HoriznsGBull	HGU	34285	7.00	4.57	5.31	-1.78
Eastern Platin	ELR	30829	0.36	0.28	0.31	-0.06
Goldcorp	G	28705	28.84	22.08	24.25	-3.28
Barrick Gold	ABX	25563	29.83	23.79	26.14	-3.81
Lundin Mng	LUN	17493	1.87	1.28	1.28	-0.53

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
High River Gol	HRG	46922	0.09	0.04	0.08	+ 60.0
American Bonan	BZA	1273	0.04	0.03	0.03	+ 50.0
Platinum Gp Mt	PTM	176	1.35	0.87	1.30	+ 36.8
Forsys Metals	FSY	9873	6.10	3.76	6.00	+ 33.6
Moneta Porcpn	ME	499	0.05	0.04	0.04	+ 33.3
Carlisle Goldf	CGJ	55	0.04	0.03	0.04	+ 33.3
Zincore Mtls	ZNC	226	0.04	0.02	0.04	+ 33.3
VG Gold	VG	962	0.06	0.04	0.05	+ 25.0
Nevoro	NVR	1294	0.05	0.04	0.05	+ 25.0
Diamond Fields	DFI	24	0.11	0.08	0.11	+ 22.2
Colombia Goldf	GOL	1664	0.05	0.01	0.01	-75.0
Katanga Mng	KAT	4365	1.58	0.45	0.52	-64.6
Atlanta Gold	ATG	110	0.18	0.10	0.10	-61.5
PC Gold	PKL	180	0.39	0.11	0.16	-60.0
Avnel Gold	AVK	353	0.05	0.02	0.02	-60.0
Treasury Metal	TML	125	0.23	0.10	0.10	-58.3
Mercator Mnls	ML	13063	1.43	0.57	0.58	-58.2
Orsu Metals	OSU	15994	0.11	0.04	0.04	-55.5
Revett Mnls	RVM	198	0.20	0.07	0.09	-55.0
Sierra Minls	SIM	31	0.08	0.06	0.08	-52.9

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Forsys Metals	FSY	9873058	6.00	+ 1.51
Horizns G Bear	HGD	8581331	10.08	+ 1.50
Uranium Partic	U	1524540	7.31	+ 1.22
IShCOMEXGTr	IGT	31261	89.12	+ 0.94
Tanz Roy Exp	TNX	362456	3.14	+ 0.44
Franco-Nevada	FNV	2353168	16.16	+ 0.41
PlatinumGpMt	PTM	176030	1.30	+ 0.35
PremierGoldM	PG	145574	1.79	+ 0.15
Geovic Mng	GMC	987852	0.91	+ 0.13
WGI Heavy Mnl	WG	47000	1.00	+ 0.09
Potash Cp Sask	POT	12454814	84.56	-12.84
Teck A	TCKA	58232	12.15	-9.85
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF_U	1045529	21.64	-8.08
Agrium	AGU	10567148	38.10	-6.75
Inmet Mining	IMN	2023986	19.55	-5.91
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	6710029	36.79	-4.96
Teck B	TCKB	99979570	6.64	-4.31
First Quantum	FM	1918753	20.04	-3.89
Newmont Mng	NMC	180957	28.78	-3.83
Barrick Gold	ABX	25563144	26.14	-3.81