TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE -August 3-6

The Civic Holiday-shortened Aug. 3-6 period saw the TSX composite index rise 18 points to 11,799.97. The index was helped along by stronger metal and oil prices as crude marched to above the US$81 a barrel mark.

The index benefited from expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep interest rates near zero for an extended period.

A weaker U.S. dollar helped bolster the gold price by US$20 to US$1,207.15. That upward move took the Global Gold index up 20 points to finish at 362.

Base metals also rose as the prices of copper, aluminum, nickel, tin, lead and zinc increased, bringing the Capped Metals & Mining index up 15 points to 960.28.

The big news of the period came when Kinross Gold said it was looking to acquire Red Back Mining in a US$7.1-billion friendly merger. The offer values Red Back shares at $30.50 apiece — a 21% premium. If completed, the move would make Kinross a big player in Africa as Red Back has operations in Ghana and Mauritania.

The transaction would leave Kinross shareholders with 63% of the combined company while Red Back shareholders would have 37%. The merged company would have 10 mines and four development projects in eight countries. Red Back shares were up $2.65 for the period to $28.67 while Kinross shares fell 65¢ to $16.22.

Mawson Resources bought the high-grade Alto Quemado gold-copper project in Peru and saw its shares jump 23% to 74¢ as a result. The project became a point of interest after artisanal miners exposed a network of high-grade gold structures between 2001 and 2007. The deal will see Mawson acquire a 93% stake in the property and it says it is negotiating with a separate party for the final 7%.

Second quarter results were a boon to Breakwater Resources’ share price as the base-metal producer rose 22% to $3.57. The company reported net earnings of $24.6 million for the quarter compared with a net loss of $4.5 million for the same period last year. The better earnings came on the back of higher metal prices, more concentrate sold and a stronger dollar.

Drill results from its 2010 program, lifted Detour Gold shares up $3.82 to $27.78 apiece. The company announced results from its Detour Lake gold project in northern Ontario. The program drilled 90,000 metres and is 90% complete. Highlight intercepts included 4.04 grams gold over 51 metres, 4.59 grams gold over 39 metres and 3.38 grams gold over 38.1 metres. Detour says it will update resources and reserves by year-end.

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Kinross Gold	K	52032	16.37	15.62	16.22	-0.65
Red Back Mng	RBI	34059	28.70	27.45	28.67	+ 2.65
Eastern Platin	ELR	21387	1.21	1.05	1.12	+ 0.08
Osisko Mng	OSK	21260	13.88	12.90	13.70	+ 0.70
Torex Gold	TXG	20557	1.10	0.95	1.10	+ 0.13
Lundin Mng	LUN	18748	4.35	4.14	4.25	+ 0.25
Yamana Gold	YRI	15822	10.42	9.67	10.24	+ 0.57
Barrick Gold	ABX	14202	44.97	42.05	44.65	+ 2.39
Western Coal	WTN	14184	4.43	4.00	4.19	-0.01
First Metals	FMA	13623	0.01	1.0E8	0.01	0.00

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Marengo Mng	MRN	110	0.11	0.08	0.11	+ 37.5
Diamond Fields	DFI	219	0.21	0.16	0.21	+ 31.2
Talon Metals	TLO	66	0.33	0.31	0.33	+ 26.9
Energy Fuels	EFR	2358	0.34	0.24	0.29	+ 26.0
Franconia Mnls	FRA	2339	0.32	0.25	0.31	+ 24.0
Mawson Res	MAW	1071	0.77	0.62	0.74	+ 23.3
Breakwater Res	BWR	2470	3.57	2.85	3.57	+ 22.2
Mountain Prov	MPV	505	3.79	3.06	3.72	+ 21.5
MagIndustries	MAA	5925	0.43	0.33	0.41	+ 20.5
Kimber Res	KBR	69	0.83	0.74	0.83	+ 20.2
Ursa Major Min	UMJ	58	0.09	0.08	0.08	-11.1
Coalcorp Mng	CCJ	1421	0.10	0.09	0.09	-10.0
Pac NW Cap	PFN	410	0.11	0.09	0.10	-9.0
Crystallex Int	KRY	2365	0.44	0.41	0.41	-8.8
Horizns G Bear	HGD	1894	14.52	13.04	13.18	-8.5
Forsys Metals	FSY	1209	2.40	1.99	2.05	-8.4
First Nickel	FNI	418	0.12	0.11	0.11	-8.3
Moneta Porcpn	ME	52	0.23	0.20	0.22	-8.3
Nuukfjord Gold	NUU	256	0.28	0.24	0.25	-7.4
Genco Res	GGC	2216	0.30	0.25	0.26	-7.1

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
PotashCpSask	POT	6196533	116.58	+ 8.97
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	3754471	61.37	+ 3.94
Detour Gold	DGC	2332738	27.78	+ 3.82
Agrium	AGU	7530978	68.26	+ 3.56
Red Back Mng	RBI	34059010	28.67	+ 2.65
Barrick Gold	ABX	14202363	44.65	+ 2.39
Allied Nevada	ANV	1018610	19.85	+ 2.13
IAMGold Corp	IMG	9512803	18.26	+ 2.05
Inmet Mining	IMN	738864	51.74	+ 1.49
Newmont Mng	NMC	19103	59.00	+ 1.49
HoriznsGBear	HGD	1894346	13.18	-1.23
Kinross Gold	K	52031569	16.22	-0.65
Teck B	TCKB	12026193	35.59	-0.60
Harry Winston	HW	912757	12.35	-0.39
North Am En Pa	NOA	34491	9.64	-0.32
Forsys Metals	FSY	1209233	2.05	-0.19
Queenston Mng	QMI	120479	3.29	-0.15
Intl Tower Hil	ITH	1487700	6.31	-0.13
Greystar Res	GSL	578756	3.86	-0.12
Jaguar Mng	JAG	1951422	8.27	-0.12