Market rally lifts base metal majors

Triggered by hints of lower interest rates and an end to the election quagmire in the U.S., stocks on the Toronto market enjoyed a broad rally, with the TSE 300 index up a whopping 4% over the Nov. 29-Dec. 5 report period to 9,279.04 points.

Canada’s base metal producers were swept up by the wider market, with the TSE Metals & Minerals sub-index soaring 5.6% to 3,656.05 points: Inco rallied $1.85 to $23.65; Falconbridge advanced 45 to $17.95; Noranda rose 60 to $15.40; Teck‘s B shares climbed $1.10 to $12.95; Cominco added $2.60 to reach $20.95; and Breakwater Resources recovered 8 to hit $1.38. Only Boliden went the other way, falling 12 to $1.03 as it announced that Swedish native Thomas Cederborg had been appointed president.

Gold prices remained subdued, moving US$1.85 higher over the week to US$270.85 per oz. on the London morning fix of Dec. 6.

Canada’s gold majors were mixed: Barrick Gold fell 5 to $22.90; Placer Dome dropped 45 to $13.90; Franco-Nevada Mining jumped 90 to $16.15; Kinross Gold was off 5 to 90; TVX Gold climbed 26 to $2.75; and Cambior was up 5 to 53.

Agnico-Eagle Mines spent much of the week above $10 before closing down 60 to $9.45. The junior, which traded below $8 in early November, is now operating its newly expanded LaRonde gold mine in Quebec at full capacity of 4,500 tonnes per day.

Dayton Mining, down 3 to 27, finally threw in the towel and officially announced the closure of its open-pit, low-grade Andacollo gold mine in central Chile. Residual leaching will continue through 2001 and is expected to produce a final 25,000 oz. gold.

Junior producer High River Gold Mines withdrew its objection to the sale of junior explorer Incanore Gold Mines to Queenstake Resources for 7.6 million Queenstake shares. Incanore’s assets include an 18.5% joint-venture interest in the Taparko gold property, the co-owners being operator High River (61.5%) and the Burkina Faso government (20%). To settle the dispute, Incanore granted High River an option to buy its Taparko interest for $1.4 million. High River closed down 3 to 34, while Queenstake slipped 3 to 9.

Platinum junior Platexco shot up $1.55 to $9.35 as South Africa’s minister of minerals and energy approved the application of Rustenburg Platinum Mines for a mineral lease and a mineral sublease to Trojan Platinum, a subsidiary of Platexco, in respect of a portion of the Driekop property. The approval paves the way for Platexco’s $191-million, or $9.50-per-share, takeover by South African major Implats.

Vancouver-based Weda Bay Minerals was unchanged at 45 as it substantially boosted resources at its nickel-cobalt laterite project on Halmahera island, Indonesia, to 204 million tonnes grading 1.37% nickel and 0.11% cobalt. The company expects to complete a bankable feasibility study by year-end.