Miners hit new lows

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed back 303.36 points, or 3%, to close at 10,393.07 for the report period ended Oct. 24, after a difficult previous week.

Spot gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange held steady at US$270.10 per oz., though many mining issues slumped to their lowest levels of the year. Newmont Mining, which recently posted a third-quarter loss, dropped $1 to a new low of US$13.38. AngloGold dipped 81 to a new low of US$15.75. Battle Mountain Gold slipped 6 to a new low of US$1.38, while Compania de Minas Buenaventura fell 56 to a new low of US$13. Nasdaq-listed Harmony Gold Mining declined 16 to a new low of US$4.09, though Ashanti Goldfields bucked the downward trend, climbing 13 to US$2.88.

Phelps Dodge jumped $3.12 to close at US$43.50 as Comex copper maintained US86 per lb. Class B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold suffered a new low, dipping 13 to US$7.81, though Australia’s Broken Hill Proprietary picked up 50 to close at US$19.88. Rio Tinto added $3 to close at US$60.

Hard times hit the silver sector, too, as Coeur d’Alene Mines hit a new low of US$1 per share, down 6. Apex Silver Mines fell 63 to US$9.62. Palladium-producer Stillwater Mining rallied up $1.84 to US$26.56, while De Beers Consolidated Mines shed 94 to US$26.12.

Among the juniors, Crown Resources added 12 to close at US50, after moving to over-the-counter trading. Canyon Resources fell back 19 to US$1.12 after a big gain in the previous week. Chief Consolidated Mines lost 38 to close at US$3.