Market news: Toronto Stock Exchange

Investors remained cautious about the outlook for negotiations to avoid the “fiscal cliff” in the U.S., but a strong earnings season for Canadian banks helped lift the S&P/TSX Composite Index 26.12 points, or 0.21%, to finish at 12,239.36. The S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals & Mining Index also rose to 944.82, up 13.43 points, or 1.44%. The spot price of gold fell US$36.70 to US$1,715.20 per oz., while the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index dropped 8.89 points, or 2.79% to 309.93.

Inmet Mining shares advanced $13.80, or 25.5%, to $67.75, as the company fended off an unsolicited takeover bid from First Quantum Minerals and adopted a shareholder-rights plan. Inmet rejected First Quantum’s $70-per-share offer, which is a 33% premium to Inmet’s Nov. 27 close, and a 28% premium to the 20-day, volume-weighted average share price.

Black Iron posted the largest percentage gain of the week, climbing 48% to 37¢ on the back of a positive bankable feasibility study of its iron ore project in the Ukraine. The Shymanivske open-pit project, 330 km southeast of Kiev, is expected to produce 9.2 million tonnes per year of high-grade, 68% iron-ore concentrate at US$43.97 per tonne free-on-board. The project would yield a 40.3% post-tax internal rate of return and a net present value of US$3 billion. 

Teck Resources jumped 99¢ to $33.63 per share after UBS Securities named the company one of its six favourite Canadian stocks. UBS analyst Brian MacArthur predicts the company will outperform its peers due to its production growth and strong cash position.

A new high-grade area discovered outside the resource shell in the main Ixtaca zone lifted Almaden Minerals 27¢ to $2.78 per share. Drill highlights include 134 metres of 3.76 grams gold per tonne and 18.1 grams silver, and 117 metres grading 2.50 grams gold and 30.7 grams silver. The Ixtaca zone is an epithermal gold-silver target in the southwest portion of the company’s 100%-owned Tuligtic project in Mexico’s Puebla State.

Richmont Mines fell 98¢ to $2.82 per share after announcing that it would close its Francoeur mine and suspend exploration at its Wasamac gold property. Both assets are near Rouyn-Noranda, Que. Equipment will be redeployed to Richmont’s Island Gold and Beaufor mines, where equipment purchases had been budgeted for 2013. Francoeur’s closure was brought on by high operating costs along with low realized grades, difficult mining conditions and a tight labour pool. At Wasamac, the company concluded that after months of optimization studies, “alternative scenarios” did not offer a “meaningful economic improvement in the current gold price environment” over the initial preliminary economic assessment released in March. Richmont has lowered its 2013 production forecast to between 65,000 and 70,000 oz. gold, down from 85,000 to 95,000 oz. gold.

TSX most active issues, November 19 – 23

TSX greatest percentage change, November 19 – 23

TSX greatest value change, November 19 – 23

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