TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE -August 23-27

While the market was digesting mixed signals from the broader economy the TSX composite index managed to scratch out a 161 point gain to finish the Aug. 23-27 period at 11,879.72.

The stronger period came despite Canadian retail sales sliding and corporate profits being off for the first time in four quarters. That bad news, however, was buttressed by word that home prices showed a 14% year-over-year gain and a growing consensus that the Bank of Canada will not raise rates as much as originally expected over the coming 12 months.

Gold continued its strong run, as risk aversion kept investors seeking the store of value that the yellow metal represents. Such sentiment had gold up another US$10 to finish the period at US$1,235. That good news helped spur gold miners as evidenced by the Global Gold index, which was up 20 points to 394.54.

While it wasn’t the strongest week for base metal prices the Capped Metals and Mining index still managed to carve out a modest gain of 20 points as it finished at 931.71. Concerns over global economic growth prospects kept the price of copper and lead flat while the price for aluminum, nickel and zinc were all lower than where they were the period previous.

Word that Goldstone Resources had halted its drilling program at Key Lake actually had a positive impact on the company’s share price. The company said drilling had to stop after its geologists resigned in response to a requisition at a shareholders meeting. Goldstone didn’t give any information as to why such news would send its share price up 58% to 63¢, on heavier than usual volume.

The faith of HudBay Minerals in Augusta Resource sent the latter’s share price up 19% to $2.52 for the period. HudBay subscribed to roughly 11 million Augusta units in a private placement at a price of $2.75 per unit, securing $30 million for Augusta. The deal will give HudBay a 13.6% stake in the company on a fully diluted basis. HudBay shares were up 67¢ to $15.03 apiece.

A water use licence from the Yukon Water Board had Alexco Resource’s shares climbing 21% to $4.32. The licence is for its Bellekeno silver mine and mill project, located within the Keno Hill silver district. The licence is the last permit Alexco needed to eventually reach commercial production at the project. The company said it is nearing construction completion.

Securing the rights to Real Del Limon Ejido’s project had Torex Gold Resources in positive territory as its shares jumped 19% to $1.28. The signing of the agreement was the final step in Torex’s attempt to consolidate the exploration areas of the Morelos gold project, which sits 180 km southwest of Mexico City. The company said the agreement will allow it to conduct exploration work for one year after which time it will seek to negotiate a permanent agreement.

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Kinross Gold	K	32587	17.36	15.80	17.36	+ 1.20
Eastern Platin	ELR	28220	1.13	1.02	1.07	-0.01
Lundin Mng	LUN	28111	4.36	3.97	4.30	+ 0.18
Western Coal	WTN	19907	3.91	3.47	3.71	-0.09
Torex Gold	TXG	16278	1.32	1.10	1.28	+ 0.20
Uranium One	UUU	16122	3.50	3.13	3.44	-0.06
Yamana Gold	YRI	16032	10.95	10.37	10.81	+ 0.32
Barrick Gold	ABX	15516	49.24	45.55	48.98	+ 2.21
Teck B	TCKB	15030	35.25	32.26	35.11	+ 0.76
Eldorado Gold	ELD	13690	20.68	18.82	20.67	+ 1.33

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Goldstone Res	GRC	6315	0.66	0.37	0.63	+ 57.5
Oromin Expl	OLE	2226	1.27	0.89	1.27	+ 41.1
Gryphon Gold	GGN	154	0.14	0.09	0.14	+ 40.0
Velocity Minls	VLC	180	0.11	0.08	0.11	+ 37.5
Talon Metals	TLO	969	0.49	0.35	0.45	+ 32.3
Acadian Mng	ADA	380	0.05	0.04	0.05	+ 25.0
CIC Energy	ELC	3040	2.72	1.85	2.42	+ 24.7
Alexco Res	AXR	1258	4.50	3.56	4.32	+ 20.6
Augusta Res	AZC	1967	2.61	2.10	2.52	+ 18.8
Torex Gold	TXG	16278	1.32	1.10	1.28	+ 18.5
Polaris Minls	PLS	481	1.33	0.88	0.90	-34.7
Silver Bear Rs	SBR	34	0.29	0.26	0.26	-18.7
Dejour Enterp	DEJ	432	0.36	0.31	0.32	-17.9
Yukon-Nev Gold	YNG	9248	0.59	0.47	0.53	-13.1
Bannerman Res	BAN	426	0.38	0.32	0.33	-13.1
Golden Predatr	GPD	710	0.55	0.47	0.48	-12.7
Hard Creek Ni	HNC	192	0.23	0.20	0.21	-12.5
Ursa Major Min	UMJ	112	0.09	0.07	0.07	-12.5
GoldWheatonG	GLW	3551	3.70	3.15	3.20	-12.0
Energy Fuels	EFR	1727	0.26	0.20	0.22	-12.0

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Detour Gold	DGC	2050125	32.60	+ 2.85
First Quantum	FM	2491244	58.68	+ 2.73
Goldcorp	G	12407163	46.65	+ 2.71
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	3642920	68.60	+ 2.37
Seabridge Gold	SEA	183053	31.86	+ 2.28
Red Back Mng	RBI	9483824	30.65	+ 2.25
Barrick Gold	ABX	15516187	48.98	+ 2.21
Newmont Mng	NMC	27175	62.87	+ 2.06
Silver Wheaton	SLW	8166994	23.94	+ 1.89
Inmet Mining	IMN	748949	51.44	+ 1.44
PotashCpSask	POT	8446048	154.99	-2.07
HoriznsGBear	HGD	2822567	11.04	-0.90
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF_U	257832	47.61	-0.89
Osisko Mng	OSK	6706753	13.99	-0.75
Cameco Corp	CCO	6077656	25.97	-0.71
Harry Winston	HW	1064486	10.92	-0.69
North Am En Pa	NOA	44941	9.00	-0.59
Major Drilling	MDI	244954	23.71	-0.56
Polaris Minls	PLS	481077	0.90	-0.48
GoldWheatonG	GLW	3550511	3.20	-0.44