Toronto Stock Exchange, Dec. 9-13

The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 155.02 points, or 1.17% to 13,125.70, while the S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals & Mining Index shed 13.54 points, or 1.86%, to 715.01 points during the trading week. Gold moved in the opposite direction, rising US$8 per oz., or 0.65%, to finish the week at US$1,238.70 per oz.

Shares of cash-strapped Canadian copper miner Mercator Minerals were the most traded, and jumped 100% to 10¢ apiece on news that the company is merging with Intergeo, the junior-mining vehicle of Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. The tycoon’s Onexim Group plans to invest US$100 million in the new company, which will be called Intergeo Mining. Mercator shareholders will own 15% of the combined company.

Victory Nickel surged 100% to 4¢ per share, after Victory Silica CEO Ken Murdock’s appearance on Business News Network. A wholly owned subsidiary, Victory Silica plans to sell premium-quality Midwest frac sand next year from its 7P plant near Medicine Hat, Alta. In phase one, partially processed sand bought in Wisconsin will be shipped to the 7P plant for final processing. During phase two, the company intends to build a concentrator in Wisconsin to trim costs, and in phase three, it plans to build a site in Winnipeg, Man., with the potential to house a larger frac-sand plant to process and distribute imported and domestic sand, including sand mined as a development co-product from a nickel mine at the company’s wholly owned Minago project in Manitoba. Frac sand is a proppant used in the oil and gas business as part of the hydraulic fracturing process — a means of increasing flow to the wellhead.

News that Carpathian Gold can proceed with gold production at its 100%-owned Riacho dos Machados (RDM) project in Brazil sent the company’s share price up 36% to 8¢. Supram, the state environmental agency, granted the company a provisional permit, which allows Carpathian to operate its gold-producing facilities. Wet commissioning and processing plant start-up already has taken place, and now processing and leaching can produce gold. During the commissioning and start-up, the process plant has operated at a 8,500- to 9,000-tonne-per-day feed rate, which is well above the planned rate of 7,000 tonnes per day, the company says. Carpathian forecasts that the project will produce more than 100,000 oz. gold each year.

Labrador Iron Ore Royalty posted the biggest value gain, advancing $2.21 to $33.04 per share. The company declared a regular cash dividend of 25¢ per common share for the fourth quarter. Directors also declared a special dividend of 50¢ per common share, bringing the total dividend up to a sweet 75¢ per share. 

TSX most active issues

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Mercator Mnls	ML	38491	0.11	0.05	0.1	+	0.05
B2Gold	BTO	18537	2.33	2.11	2.23	+	0.1
Barrick Gold	ABX	18422	18.05	16.64	17.76	+	1.38
Kinross Gold	K	18295	5.17	4.76	4.88	+	0.05
Iamgold	IMG	17010	4.36	3.61	3.64	–	0.47
Moneta Porcpn	ME	14571	0.07	0.05	0.07		0
Victory Nickel	NI	14375	0.04	0.02	0.04	+	0.02
Goldcorp	G	13809	23.43	21.87	22.31	–	0.08
Osisko Mng	OSK	11483	4.49	3.94	4.44	+	0.43
Turquoise Hill	TRQ	11440	3.63	3.23	3.39	–	0.18

TSX greatest percentage change

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3.65

		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Victory Nickel	NI	14375	0.04	0.02	0.04	+	100
Mercator Mnls	ML	38491	0.11	0.05	0.1	+	100
Verde Potash	NPK	1356	0.69	0.39	0.52	+	38.6
Carpathian Gld	CPN	7161	0.08	0.06	0.08	+	36.3
Goldgroup Mng	GGA	896	0.1	0.08	0.1	+	35.7
First Nickel	FNI	1147	0.02	0.01	0.02	+	33.3
Orbit Garant D	OGD	44	1.7	1.37	1.57	+	31.9
Serabi Gold	SBI	1334	0.1	0.09	0.1	+	25
United Silver	USC	92	0.03	0.03	0.03	+	25
Detour Gold	DGC	11365	4.69	4.36	+	21.7
Azumah Res	AZR	60	0.02	0.02	0.02	–	40
Red Cresc Res	RCB	135	0.03	0.02	0.02	–	33.3
Xinergy	XRG	310	0.34	0.25	0.25	–	32.4
Pac NW Cap	PFN	149	0.02	0.02	0.02	–	25
American Bonan	BZA	283	0.02	0.02	0.02	–	25
Stockport Expl	SPT	80	0.04	0.03	0.03	–	25
Silver Predatr	SPD	351	0.04	0.03	0.04	–	22.2
Carlisle Goldf	CGJ	1105	0.06	0.04	0.04	–	20
INV Metals	INV	3825	0.03	0.02	0.02	–	20
Evolving Gold	EVG	203	0.03	0.03	0.03	–	16.6

TSX greatest value change

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Company	Symbol	Change	Close	Change
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF	666034	33.04	+	2.21
Franco-Nevada	FNV	3064074	42.02	+	2.19
Barrick Gold	ABX	18421605	17.76	+	1.38
Royal Gold	RGL	27600	48.05	+	1.05
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	5986787	27.89	+	0.82
Detour Gold	DGC	11364905	4.36	+	0.78
Pan Am Silver	PAA	1304256	11.65	+	0.67
Centerra Gold	CG	2454495	3.95	+	0.53
Alamos Gold	AGI	2013161	12.77	+	0.5
Silver Std Res	SSO	897631	6.67	+	0.5
Agrium	AGU	1934220	94.84	–	1.55
Horizns G Bear	HGD	2245985	22.75	–	1.11
Potash Cp Sask	POT	9308634	32.66	–	0.92
Walter Energy	WLT	58272	15.3	–	0.84
Mountain Prov	MPV	173231	5.15	–	0.5
Iamgold	IMG	17009531	3.64	–	0.47
Major Drilling	MDI	909624	6.97	–	0.37
NovaCopper	NCQ	147026	1.6	–	0.31
Kirkland Lk Gd	KGI	3239986	2.31	–	0.24
Dynacor Gold M	DNG	302447	1.58	–	0.23