TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE -Aug. 30-Sept. 3

Positive economic data from the U.S. had investors less afraid of the dreaded double-dip recession and the TSX composite index partook in that new optimism as it climbed from 265 points to finish the Aug. 30-Sept. 3 period at 12,144.92.

While Canadian investors are divided over whether or not the Bank of Canada is set to raise interest rates, a key U.S. manufacturing index surprising on the upside was all the base metal complex needed to get a boost. The prices of aluminum, nickel, tin, lead and zinc were all higher and copper rose to the US$3.47 per lb. level. All that upward movement in the metals had the Capped Metals & Mining index up 83 points to 1,013.88.

And while the more positive economic outlook didn’t hamper the price of gold — the yellow metal climbed US$14 to finish the period at US$1,249 — it did hurt many gold miners as the Global Gold index fell by 3 points to 391 points.

One gold miner that didn’t follow the trend of its peers was Andean Resources — although the company had Goldcorp and Eldorado Gold to thank for its good fortune.

Andean shares shot up 50% for the period to finish at $6.98 after first Eldorado and then Goldcorp made bids for the company. Goldcorp bested Eldorado’s $3.4 billion, all-share offer with a $3.6-billion offer that combines shares and cash. Also bolstering Goldcorp’s chances at successfully landing the company is the fact that its offer has the unanimous support of Andean’s board.

The reason for the fuss over Andean has to do with its Cerro Negro gold project in Argentina. While the project already has more than 3 million oz. gold outlined in its resource estimate, both Goldcorp and Eldorado believe there is significantly more ounces to be found at the project.

In other merger and acquisition news, Fronteer Gold secured a full interest in its key asset by acquiring AuEx for $238 million. The deal, which is made up of a combination of cash and stock, secures the Long Canyon gold exploration project in Nevada for the company. Vancouver-based Fronteer currently holds 51% of the high-grade project while AuEx has the remaining 49%. The deal will give Fronteer a 49% stake in the smaller West Pequop property, which currently is an early-stage exploration project. Fronteer’s shares finished 59¢ lower at $7.80 apiece while AuEx’s shares climbed $1.26 to $5.76.

It was also a busy period for Golden Predator. The Yukon-focused gold explorer saw its share price climb 42% to 68¢ after announcing drill results from one project and increased land holdings. The drill results came out of its Brewery Creek gold project which returned a highlight assay of 7.62 metres grading 4.16 grams gold per tonne. Golden Predator also announced that it had doubled its land holdings in the territory by acquiring 659 sq. km of prospective land north of its Cynthia project in east-central Yukon.

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Andean Res	AND	81863	7.33	4.48	6.98	+ 2.33
Kinross Gold	K	47744	18.27	17.08	18.12	+0.76
Mirabela Nickl	MNB	22997	1.78	1.55	1.74	+ 0.12
Western Coal	WTN	21630	4.53	3.68	4.44	+ 0.73
Lundin Mng	LUN	18984	4.64	4.14	4.53	+ 0.23
Teck B	TCKB	18692	39.90	34.70	39.70	+ 4.59
Eastern Platin	ELR	18658	1.25	1.03	1.22	+ 0.15
Barrick Gold	ABX	18091	50.65	46.52	47.09	-1.89
Uranium One	UUU	18013	3.62	3.40	3.50	+ 0.06
Red Back Mng	RBI	17716	31.93	29.98	30.64	-0.01

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Andean Res	AND	81863	7.33	4.48	6.98	+ 50.1
Coro Mining	COP	1110	0.56	0.35	0.50	+ 42.8
Baffinland Irn	BIM	9983	0.58	0.39	0.57	+ 42.5
Golden Predatr	GPD	3701	0.68	0.47	0.68	+ 41.6
Treasury Metal	TML	253	0.40	0.30	0.40	+ 37.9
Genco Res	GGC	1544	0.34	0.26	0.32	+ 33.3
Almaden Mnls	AMM	1887	3.05	2.05	2.76	+ 31.4
Extorre Gold M	XG	1664	5.10	3.60	4.60	+ 28.8
Ursa Major Min	UMJ	1465	0.11	0.07	0.09	+ 28.5
Canarc Res	CCM	126	0.09	0.08	0.09	+ 28.5
Gryphon Gold	GGN	312	0.13	0.09	0.10	-28.5
Arehada Mining	AHD	239	0.13	0.10	0.11	-26.6
Polo Res	POL	223	0.09	0.06	0.06	-25.0
Acadian Mng	ADA	458	0.05	0.04	0.05	-16.6
Yukon-Nev Gold	YNG	6627	0.52	0.40	0.45	-16.6
Moneta Porcpn	ME	533	0.25	0.20	0.21	-16.0
Petaquilla Mnl	PTQ	2064	0.47	0.37	0.38	-15.5
Goldstone Res	GRC	2527	0.61	0.53	0.55	-12.7
NGEx Res	NGQ	228	0.69	0.62	0.62	-10.1
Pac NW Cap	PFN	857	0.10	0.08	0.09	-10.0

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
First Quantum	FM	2495757	65.45	+ 6.77
Teck B	TCKB	18691654	39.70	+ 4.59
Teck A	TCKA	17985	40.07	+ 4.39
Inmet Mining	IMN	1400924	54.39	+ 2.95
Agrium	AGU	384 9868	75.46	+ 2.40
Andean Res	AND	81862570	6.98	+ 2.33
Allied Nevada	ANV	1670021	25.99	+ 1.95
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF_U	638738	49.55	+ 1.94
Major Drilling	MDI	821233	25.15	+ 1.44
Harry Winston	HW	1681454	12.35	+ 1.43
Goldcorp	G	14827986	44.49	-2.16
Barrick Gold	ABX	18090955	47.09	-1.89
Franco-Nevada	FNV	1438371	31.45	-1.46
Royal Gold	RGL	25391	50.78	-1.42
Seabridge Gold	SEA	108527	30.59	-1.27
Detour Gold	DGC	1835380	31.64	-0.96
Eldorado Gold	ELD	16414006	19.89	-0.78
Osisko Mng	OSK	13123676	13.25	-0.74
Intl Tower Hil	ITH	578938	6.44	-0.67
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	3192123	67.94	-0.66