The major U.S. indexes slipped, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreating 192.85 points to 15,258.24, putting an end to three weeks of gains. The S&P 500 Index fell 18.16 points to 1,691.75; the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index dipped 2 points to 93.74; and the spot price for gold dropped US$3.30 per oz. to US$1,328.90.
Barrick Gold was one of the most active stocks, with 67.6 million shares traded. The company says the Supreme Court of Chile upheld the environmental approval for its Pascua-Lama gold project on the Chile-Argentina border. The court requires Barrick to build an up-to-standard water-management system before restarting development in Chile, reiterating a lower court’s earlier ruling in a case filed against the project late last year. Barrick says it can complete the water-management system by the end of 2014. Shares slipped US8¢ to US$18.53.
Agrium was the biggest value loser, after saying its third-quarter results took a hit from weak nutrient prices and low sales in its wholesale operations. The Calgary-based fertilizer producer expects US$115 million in third-quarter wholesale earnings before interest and tax, which is US$200 million lower than the year-earlier period. Agrium says delays in customer demand could reduce phosphate and potash sales by 30% compared to a year ago. It forecasts a 20% drop in nitrogen volumes during the quarter. However, Agrium says retail earnings before interest and tax should be higher than a year ago and in line with the US$92 million achieved in the third quarter of 2011.
The miner increased its dividend by 50% to US75¢ per quarter, as it expects better long-term demand for crop nutrients. Despite this, Agrium lost US$4.32 per share to close at US$84.92.
The second-biggest value loser was Alliance Resource Partners, dropping US$2.27 to US$74.73. The company announced that its subsidiary, Excel Mining, would close the 36-year-old Pontiki coal mine in Kentucky this December and cut 142 jobs due to the weak coal demand. It says that Excel couldn’t sign new coal-sale agreements for the mine beyond its 2013 contracts.
U.S. most active issues
| Volume | |||||||
| Company | Symbol | (000s) | High | Low | Close | Change | |
| Alcoa* | AA | 68784 | 8.4 | 8.18 | 8.2 | – | 0.09 |
| Barrick Gold* | ABX | 67665 | 19.04 | 18.05 | 18.53 | – | 0.08 |
| Kinross Gold* | KGC | 57789 | 5.28 | 4.94 | 4.99 | – | 0.2 |
| Freeport McMo* | FCX | 46987 | 34.36 | 33.32 | 33.42 | – | 0.45 |
| Goldcorp* | GG | 42584 | 26.62 | 25.01 | 25.76 | – | 0.06 |
| Alpha Nat Res* | ANR | 41941 | 6.45 | 6.07 | 6.08 | – | 0.14 |
| Molycorp* | MCP | 40822 | 7.78 | 6.68 | 6.73 | – | 0.34 |
| Arch Coal* | ACI | 40029 | 4.83 | 4.19 | 4.25 | – | 0.49 |
| Newmont Mng* | NEM | 39578 | 28.83 | 27.39 | 27.98 | – | 0.09 |
| Gold Fields* | GFI | 36264 | 4.84 | 4.55 | 4.59 | – | 0.12 |
U.S. greatest percentage change
| Volume | |||||||
| Company | Symbol | (000s) | High | Low | Close | Change | |
| Silver Bull R* | SVBL | 618 | 0.39 | 0.35 | 0.37 | + | 24.5 |
| Cardero Res* | CDY | 1892 | 0.17 | 0.12 | 0.17 | + | 17.8 |
| Tasman Mtls* | TAS | 1150 | 1.02 | 0.74 | 0.84 | + | 16.6 |
| Brigus Gold* | BRD | 287 | 0.61 | 0.54 | 0.6 | + | 15 |
| Richmont Mine* | RIC | 874 | 1.47 | 1.34 | 1.44 | + | 11.6 |
| Mesabi Trust* | MSB | 261 | 22.21 | 20.02 | 22.01 | + | 9.5 |
| Lake Shore Gd* | LSG | 1291 | 0.41 | 0.35 | 0.4 | + | 9.5 |
| Revett Mnls* | RVM | 506 | 1.3 | 1.03 | 1.17 | + | 7.7 |
| US Energy* | USEG | 649 | 2.17 | 1.94 | 2.14 | + | 7.5 |
| Loncor Res* | LON | 24 | 0.18 | 0.14 | 0.16 | + | 6.9 |
| Vista Gold* | VGZ | 9768 | 0.74 | 0.45 | 0.45 | – | 32.4 |
| Intl Tower Hi* | THM | 1547 | 0.45 | 0.33 | 0.34 | – | 17.7 |
| Golden Star* | GSS | 17653 | 0.49 | 0.42 | 0.42 | – | 14.9 |
| Avino Silver* | ASM | 308 | 1.42 | 1.17 | 1.18 | – | 14.4 |
| Entree Gold* | EGI | 508 | 0.32 | 0.27 | 0.28 | – | 14.3 |
| Tanz Roy Exp* | TRX | 5368 | 3.25 | 2.6 | 2.62 | – | 14.1 |
| Mines Managem* | MGN | 189 | 0.66 | 0.54 | 0.59 | – | 13.8 |
| Seabridge Gld* | SA | 3453 | 12.72 | 10.33 | 10.62 | – | 13.4 |
| Arch Coal* | ACI | 40029 | 4.83 | 4.19 | 4.25 | – | 10.3 |
| General Moly* | GMO | 955 | 1.93 | 1.68 | 1.69 | – | 10.1 |
U.S. greatest value change
| Company | Symbol | Change | Close | Change | |
| Mesabi Trust* | MSB | 261436 | 22.01 | + | 1.91 |
| OM Group* | OMG | 874080 | 33.52 | + | 1.28 |
| Tahoe Res* | TAHO | 67487 | 17.39 | + | 0.55 |
| Central GoldT* | GTU | 436351 | 46.59 | + | 0.47 |
| Walter Energy* | WLT | 4943607 | 14.19 | + | 0.42 |
| Hi-Crush Part* | HCLP | 59978 | 26.98 | + | 0.32 |
| MDU Res* | MDU | 2640127 | 27.79 | + | 0.31 |
| Minas Buenavn* | BVN | 11007110 | 11.89 | + | 0.29 |
| Cabot Corp* | CBT | 1508704 | 42.53 | + | 0.27 |
| AngloGold Ash* | AU | 18116925 | 13.24 | + | 0.25 |
| Agrium* | AGU | 1043485 | 84.92 | – | 4.32 |
| Alliance Rs P* | ARLP | 223680 | 74.73 | – | 2.27 |
| Royal Gold* | RGLD | 3688989 | 48.16 | – | 2.1 |
| Randgold Res* | GOLD | 3876514 | 71.73 | – | 1.65 |
| Seabridge Gld* | SA | 3453032 | 10.62 | – | 1.65 |
| Consol Energy* | CNX | 9135953 | 33.5 | – | 1.39 |
| Mosaic* | MOS | 25356458 | 43.43 | – | 1.34 |
| Cliffs Nat Rs* | CLF | 29023458 | 21 | – | 0.98 |
| Cameco Corp* | CCJ | 6756057 | 18.35 | – | 0.93 |
| Coeur Mng* | CDE | 11244121 | 12.3 | – | 0.89 |
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