Toronto Stock Exchange February 2-8

Sovereign debt issues across the pond hit global markets hard over the Feb. 2-8 period and Toronto was no exception. The TSX composite index fell by over 200 points to finish the period at 11,115.30.

Concerns over Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal’s ability to make payments on their debt sent markets tumbling, although at presstime there was renewed optimism that Germany and the European Central Bank would provide a bailout.

The commodities complex was not spared in the downturn as the price of gold fell US$22 to US$1,064.00. Risk aversion and the subsequent flight to the US greenback was seen as the chief culprit. The Global Gold index moved 12 points lower to finish at 303.83.

As for the base metals complex: copper, aluminum, nickel, tin, lead and zinc all moved lower, taking the Capped Metals & Mining index along with them. The index was off roughly 80 points to 916.03. The Global Base Metals index also moved lower, as it was off 8 points to 127.40.

But the news wasn’t universally bad for miners. High-grade gold results from the final five drill holes of a drill program at its Goliath gold project helped boost Treasury Metal’s fortunes. The company finished the period 28% higher at 60¢ after announcing results from the project, which sits in the Kenora mining district of western Ontario. The highlight intercept was 19.34 grams gold over 1.5 metres.

And settling disputes worked wonders for Coalcorp Mining, as the company managed an 18% gain for the period after announcing an agreement with Xira Investment and former Coalcorp management. The settlement will see Xira pay $34 million to Coalcorp, which will then allow the deal for its Caypa coal mine in Colombia to go through.

Word that Nevsun Resources will raise $117 million to develop its Bisha mine in Eritrea helped bolster market confidence in the company and send its shares up 18% for the period to $2.55. The company says the placement will close by February 19, and will give it enough money to see Bisha through to becoming a “cash positive” operation.

The news was not as positive from First Uranium. The company had to suspend construction on its third gold plant at the Mine Waste Solutions project in South Africa and close one of the remaining two mines at the project. The suspension came after the company had its environmental authorization for the new tailings storage facility withdrawn.

First Uranium’s shares fell by 26% to finish the period at $1.40.

Assay results from Globex Mining’s surface grab sampling of outcrops at its Turner Falls property in Villedieu Township, Quebec, did little to help the company’s market fortunes. In fact, they hurt them. Globex shares fell 19% for the period after announcing two samples averaging 4.57% and 3.6% total rare earth oxides plus yttrium, respectively.

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Eastern Platin	ELR	37529	1.33	1.16	1.25	-0.02
TeckB	TCKB	34588	37.86	32.19	34.50	-2.20
Lundin Mng	LUN	27296	4.76	3.98	4.05	-0.42
Yamana Gold	YRI	27171	11.50	10.41	10.72	-0.63
First Uranium	FIU	26706	1.80	1.33	1.40	-0.48
Coalcorp Mng	CCJ	24409	0.24	0.17	0.20	+ 0.03
Barrick Gold	ABX	22526	39.25	36.01	37.04	-1.76
New Gold	NGD	22342	4.92	4.21	4.49	-0.06
Equinox Minls	EQN	21858	3.82	3.24	3.41	-0.11
HoriznsGBull	HGU	20194	11.08	9.34	10.01	-0.73

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
North Am En Pa	NOA	222	10.00	7.99	9.45	+ 29.8
Treasury Metal	TML	586	0.60	0.48	0.60	+ 27.6
Moneta Porcpn	ME	3165	0.32	0.25	0.31	+ 19.2
Nevsun Res	NSU	7153	2.60	1.98	2.55	+ 18.0
Coalcorp Mng	CCJ	24409	0.24	0.17	0.20	+ 17.6
Uranerz Energy	URZ	171	1.68	1.34	1.55	+ 14.8
PC Gold	PKL	327	0.55	0.49	0.55	+ 12.2
Ursa Major Min	UMJ	1018	0.12	0.09	0.10	+ 11.1
Peregrine Diam	PGD	1797	1.85	1.54	1.69	+ 10.4
Ventana Gold	VEN	3692	8.56	7.35	7.99	+ 8.5
First Uranium	FIU	26706	1.80	1.33	1.40	-25.5
Revett Mnls	RVM	1757	0.42	0.32	0.32	-20.0
San Anton Res	SNN	252	0.26	0.20	0.20	-20.0
Globex Mng	GMX	110	1.44	1.22	1.22	-18.6
Contl Precious	CZQ	1164	0.95	0.71	0.75	-18.4
Linear Metals	LRM	441	0.23	0.19	0.19	-17.3
Mineral Depost	MDM	14	0.83	0.75	0.75	-16.6
Vaaldiam Res	VAA	7899	0.06	0.04	0.05	-16.6
Phoenix Coal	PHC	1073	0.39	0.31	0.31	-16.2
Bannerman Res	BAN	106	0.66	0.58	0.59	-15.7

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
North Am En Pa	NOA	222171	9.45	+ 2.17
Ventana Gold	VEN	3692041	7.99	+ 0.63
Nevsun Res	NSU	7152670	2.55	+ 0.39
HoriznsGBear	HGD	11736877	5.29	+ 0.22
Uranerz Energy	URZ	171344	1.55	+ 0. 20
Detour Gold	DGC	2944458	15.92	+ 0.20
Capital Gold	CGC	401120	3.64	+ 0.18
Peregrine Diam	PGD	1796877	1.69	+ 0.16
Guyana Gldflds	GUY	1036597	6.66	+ 0.16
Western Areas	WSA	38090	3.90	+ 0.15
First Quantum	FM	4079925	70.27	-11.01
IShCOMEXGTr	IGT	26224	111.97	-3.27
Inmet Mining	IMN	1845773	52.85	-3.06
Ivanhoe Mines	IVN	5314669	14.04	-2.23
Teck B	TCKB	34588036	34.50	-2.20
Major Drilling	MDI	563429	24.14	-2.11
Quadra Mng	QUA	6571828	13.16	-1.90
Cameco Corp	CCO	6582298	27.80	-1.88
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF_U	266478	45.13	-1.87
Teck A	TCKA	36898	35.70	-1.80