U.S. MARKETS (January 31, 2011)

U.S. markets were closed on Jan. 17 for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. When they re-opened, trading was mixed. The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 84.46 points to close the abbreviated Jan. 18-21 week at 11,871.84, while the S&P 500 index moved in the opposite direction, dropping 9.89 points to 1,283.35. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver index lost 5.6 points to 200.12. 

Mosaic was the second most actively traded stock with more than 60 million shares changing hands following news that private agribusiness conglomerate Cargill Inc. plans to divest its majority 64% stake in the fertilizer giant, a move that could make Mosaic a takeover target. The US$24.3-billion deal involves Cargill using 107 million of its Mosaic shares to pay down debt, and distributing the remaining 179 million Mosaic shares that it holds to its own shareholders in exchange for Cargill stock. Mosaic shares fell US$9.77 to US$73.20.

Northern Dynasty Minerals topped the list of value gains with an advance of US$1.06 to US$17.89, on no news. High copper prices are attracting more attention to the company’s principal asset, the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in southwestern Alaska, which the company claims is “one of the world’s most extensive undeveloped copper-gold porphyry systems.” Northern Dynasty acquired the Pebble property from Cominco, now Teck, in 2001, and currently co-owns the project with Anglo American. 

Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco, advanced US76¢ to US$24.14 per share. Some analysts believe the uptick in the share price was due to an announcement that it planned to take a controlling stake in a rare-earth venture and develop rare earth mines in southern Guangxi province, a plan first disclosed last August.

Constitution Mining posted the week’s second-largest percentage gain, up 18.7% to 19¢ per share on news Jan. 21 that it had signed an agreement with Swiss Mining to start a test-mining production operation at its Gold Sands project in northeastern Peru. Constitution Mining’s drilling program, which located placer orebodies, was completed within the MIKA 2 concession last year. Swiss Mining expects to start a six-month test-mining operation shortly.

U.S. most active issues

VOLUMEWEEK

(000s)HIGHLOWCLOSECHANGE

Alcoa*AA13824216.3815.6015.79-0.18

Mosaic*MOS6021085.4571.8673.20-9.77

Hecla Mining*HL5016910.048.638.64-0.94

Freeport McMo*FCX45988119.67108.11108.40-9.95

Barrick Gold*ABX4191748.7645.7546.95-0.13

Silver Wheatn*SLW4039333.8630.4230.57-1.13

Newmont Mng*NEM3475257.0154.4155.84+0.12

Goldcorp*GG3066641.4139.7440.26-0.30

Arch Coal*ACI3035233.9631.0531.61-2.43

Kinross Gold*KGC2662417.2216.4416.91+0.11

U.S. greatest percentage change

VOLUMEWEEK

(000s)HIGHLOWCLOSECHANGE

Commerce Grp*CGCO470.050.040.04+33.3

Constittn Mng*CMIN37470.190.160.19+18.7

Strata O&G*SOIGF7620.380.300.34+13.3

Tara Gold*TRGD3850.450.260.43+13.1

New Jersey Mg*NJMC740.290.250.29+11.5

Silver Dragon*SDRG17360.120.100.11+10.0

Uranerz Energ*URZ91054.924.314.77+9.9

Li3 Energy*LIEG8400.310.250.29+7.4

Argentex Mng*AGXM5650.930.820.88+7.3

Alberta Star *ASXSF2060.690.600.64+6.6

El Capitan Pr*ECPN39151.370.720.82-28.7

China Shen Zh*SHZ8378.606.216.30-22.6

Yellowcake Mg*YCKM2410.050.030.04-20.0

Linux Gold*LNXGF2230.060.050.05-16.6

Canarc Res*CRCUF2860.260.220.22-15.3

Lake Vict Mng*LVCA2630.320.250.28-15.1

Rubicon Mnls*RBY103005.854.794.82-15.1

Crosshair E&M*CXZ3482.291.811.86-15.0

Xtra-Gold Res*XTGR2342.251.871.90-14.4

Vista Gold*VGZ29582.952.402.40-14.2

U.S. greatest value change

WEEK

VOLUMECLOSECHANGE

Northern Dyn*NAK569542017.89+1.06

Alum Cp China*ACH58515324.14+0.76

Uranerz Energ*URZ91053274.77+0.43

Allied Nevada*ANV229453224.86+0.41

MDU Res*MDU341048521.15+0.38

Harry Winston*HWD41731911.20+0.35

Newmont Mng*NEM3475155955.84+0.12

Almaden Mnls*AAU43403734.03+0.12

Kinross Gold*KGC2662373316.91+0.11

Denison Mines*DNN13171943.41+0.08

Freeport McMo*FCX45987799108.40-9.95

Mosaic*MOS6021002373.20-9.77

Potash C Sask*POT22402315164.25-7.55

Cliffs Nat Rs*CLF1665503881.66-7.18

Alliance Rs P*ARLP73610864.96-5.42

Agrium*AGU226708488.04-5.31

Mesabi Trust*MSB340522535.89-5.27

Peabody Enrgy*BTU1748867558.17-3.84

Alpha Nat Res*ANR1707650855.22-3.82

Compass Mnls*CMP40875285.35-3.79