TSX down, Oct. 26-30

The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 4.44% to 15,580.64 during the Oct. 26-Oct. 30 trading week. The S&P/TSX Global Mining Index declined by 2.52% to 92.89, and the S&P/TSX Global Base Metals Index slumped 3.18% to 103.99. Spot gold dropped US$22.70 per oz., or 1.19%, to US$1,878.60 per oz., and the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index fell by 0.81% to 350.09.

Barrick Gold rose 41¢ to $35.62 per share. The company announced that its 80%-owned Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali remains on track to meet the upper end of its 2020 guidance, set at 540,000 oz. gold, despite having faced multiple challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic and a recent military coup in the country. According to Barrick chief executive Mark Bristow, the strong performance can be attributed to the company’s long-established relationships with partners in Mali. The complex has also paid dividends totalling $160 million so far this year, with Loulo paying a first dividend in the quarter. A third underground mine is also under development at Gounkoto and is on track to deliver its first tonnes in the second quarter of 2021.

Shares of Teck Resources climbed 17¢ to $20.09. The company’s third-quarter adjusted profit fell by 66% as steelmaking coal prices collapsed in the period and Covid-19-related restrictions continued to hit the commodities market. Gross profit before depreciation and amortization reached $703 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, compared to $1.22 billion in the same quarter last year. The Vancouver-based miner said that coking coal’s sale price decreased 34.6% to $102 per tonne in the third quarter, while sales stood at 5.1 million tonnes compared with 6.1 million tonnes a year earlier. The cost of coal as it leaves the mine, excluding depreciation, amortization, and other factors, fell to $67 per tonne in the July-September quarter. Adjusted site cash cost of sales are expected to fall even further over the remainder of 2020, the company said, adding that it anticipated the commodity would end the year below $60 per tonne.

Denison Mines rose 4¢ to 47¢ per share. The company announced that exploration activities at its 90%-owned Wheeler River uranium project in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin have successfully transitioned from an in-situ recovery (ISR) field program at the high-grade Phoenix deposit to a 12,000-metre exploration drilling program. According to Denison, the drilling is designed to initially test for extensions to known mineralization at Phoenix and then advance to regional targets for the discovery of satellite uranium deposits potentially amenable to ISR mining. Denison president and chief executive David Cates said, after raising US$19 million in a public offering, that the company remains debt-free and well-funded with over $29 million in cash.