The TSX Composite Index moved lower for the Jan. 12-18 period as oil prices continued to slide on word from OPEC that supplies were strong for the winter period.
Closer to home, markets received some assurance from the Bank of Canada announcement that it would hold rates at the historic low of 0.25%.
And while lower rates continue to stoke inflation fears, gold prices did fall off, if only slightly, for the period. The yellow metal lost roughly US$20 and was trading in the US$1,135 range at presstime. The lower price translated into the Global Gold Index, which fell roughly 20 points to finish at 334.73.
The diversified miners followed the broader material sector down despite stronger base metal prices. The Capped Metals & Mining Index was off 10 points to 1,138.30. Copper, aluminum, nickel, tin and lead prices were all stronger over the period, however, while zinc prices fell, if just a little, finishing at US$1.11 per lb.
The period was a strong one for Eastern Platinum, as development plans and financial results helped make the company the most highly traded of all miners. Eastern Platinum first announced that higher metal prices meant it was re-opening a section of its Crocodile River mine in South Africa’s Bushveld complex. More good news came two days later when the company announced record production from Crocodile, even without the yet to be re-opened section up and running. Eastern Platinum shares finished the period 10¢ higher at $1.42.
Word that Toronto-based Duluth Metals would joint-venture with Chile’s Antofagasta — one of the world’s largest copper producers — sent the junior’s shares up 50% to $3.32 over the period. Duluth, which had been trading for as low as 14¢ less than a year ago, said the partnership will accelerate the development of the Nokomis deposit, a copper-nickel-PGM project in northeastern Minnesota. The deal will bring US$227 million in financing to the project where a pre-feasibility study and a bankable feasibility study are due within the next 36 months.
News that Petaquilla Minerals had achieved commercial production at its Molejon gold mine in Panama, however, was less well received. The company saw its shares fall 18% to 78¢ over the period, perhaps because the mill was only processing 1,500 tonnes per day when it was designed to process 2,200 tonnes.
Petaquilla says reaching 70% of design capacity along with metallurgical recoveries approaching forecasted levels means the mine does qualify as being in commercial production.
An analyst downgrade for Agrium and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan may have been behind the two producers weak performance for the period. Agrium shares were down $5.75 to $65.79, while Potash Corp. was off $7.65 to $119.30.
| TSX most active issues | ||||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | |||||
| (000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Eastern Platin | ELR | 56788 | 1.44 | 1.12 | 1.42 | + 0.10 |
| Yamana Gold | YRI | 26191 | 13.21 | 11.75 | 12.05 | -1.08 |
| Paladin Energy | PDN | 24077 | 4.06 | 3.83 | 3.87 | -0.28 |
| Western C Coal | WTN | 20565 | 4.13 | 3.61 | 3.85 | -0.38 |
| Farallon Res | FAN | 19151 | 0.63 | 0.52 | 0.61 | + 0.02 |
| Tiomin Res | TIO | 17696 | 0.05 | 0.03 | 0.04 | + 0.01 |
| Breakwater Res | BWR | 16960 | 0.51 | 0.47 | 0.49 | -0.01 |
| Mercator Mnls | ML | 16169 | 3.39 | 2.98 | 3.27 | + 0.01 |
| New Gold | NGD | 15643 | 4.98 | 4.36 | 4.41 | -0.53 |
| Coalcorp Mng | CCJ | 15348 | 0.23 | 0.17 | 0.19 | -0.01 |
| TSX greatest percentage change | ||||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | |||||
| (000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Labdr Iron Mns | LIM | 1936 | 5.57 | 3.22 | 5.57 | + 61.9 |
| Duluth Metals | DM | 15016 | 3.99 | 2.01 | 3.32 | + 50.2 |
| Wallbridge Mng | WM | 15246 | 0.39 | 0.23 | 0.35 | + 40.0 |
| Franconia Mnls | FRA | 3501 | 0.73 | 0.48 | 0.70 | + 37.2 |
| Zazu Metals | ZAZ | 1720 | 0.45 | 0.30 | 0.41 | + 36.6 |
| Copper Mesa | CUX | 5473 | 0.09 | 0.05 | 0.08 | + 33.3 |
| Tiomin Res | TIO | 17696 | 0.05 | 0.03 | 0.04 | + 33.3 |
| Taseko Mines | TKO | 10420 | 5.84 | 4.28 | 5.83 | + 30.4 |
| Marengo Mng | MRN | 28 | 0.18 | 0.14 | 0.18 | + 28.5 |
| Velocity Minls | VLC | 316 | 0.20 | 0.17 | 0.20 | + 25.0 |
| Australn Solom | SGA | 40 | 0.25 | 0.23 | 0.23 | -25.8 |
| Ursa Major Min | UMJ | 296 | 0.12 | 0.09 | 0.10 | -23.0 |
| Niocan Inc | NIO | 46 | 0.30 | 0.25 | 0.25 | -21.8 |
| Moneta Porcpn | ME | 1236 | 0.40 | 0.29 | 0.31 | -20.5 |
| Mediterrn Res | MNR | 1256 | 0.16 | 0.11 | 0.13 | -18.7 |
| Petaquilla Mnl | PTQ | 3099 | 0.97 | 0.75 | 0.78 | -17.8 |
| Aura Mnls | ORA | 4636 | 4.96 | 4.13 | 4.20 | -15.8 |
| Intl Nickel Vn | INV | 266 | 1.12 | 0.90 | 0.95 | -15.1 |
| Guyana Gldflds | GUY | 2345 | 7.97 | 6.77 | 6.90 | -14.9 |
| Yukon-Nev Gold | YNG | 3528 | 0.31 | 0.26 | 0.26 | -13.3 |
| TSX greatest value change | ||||
| WEEK | ||||
| VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| First Quantum | FM | 2328144 | 99.79 | + 5.04 |
| Labdr I-Ore Ro | LIF_U | 532066 | 50.00 | + 3.20 |
| Labdr Iron Mns | LIM | 1936369 | 5.57 | + 2.13 |
| Comaplex Mnrl | CMF | 1422854 | 8.74 | + 1.49 |
| Taseko Mines | TKO | 10419556 | 5.83 | + 1.36 |
| Duluth Metals | DM | 15015741 | 3.32 | + 1.11 |
| FronteerDevG | FRG | 3220302 | 5.44 | + 0.61 |
| Thompson Creek | TCM | 8529457 | 15.00 | + 0.50 |
| Quadra Mng | QUA | 4472389 | 17.14 | + 0.49 |
| HoriznsGBear | HGD | 7125059 | 4.53 | + 0.46 |
| PotashCpSask | POT | 4779539 | 119.30 | -7.65 |
| Agrium | AGU | 5221949 | 65.79 | -5.75 |
| Newmont Mng | NMC | 25190 | 48.64 | -3.20 |
| Goldcorp | G | 11325773 | 40.91 | -2.92 |
| Agnico-Eagle | AEM | 2534343 | 58.80 | -2.72 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 12785301 | 40.32 | -2.68 |
| CentralGold-T | GTU_U | 11289 | 46.19 | -2.05 |
| Teck A | TCKA | 14739 | 41.30 | -1.59 |
| Kinross Gold | K | 11375139 | 19.72 | -1.57 |
| Horizns G Bull | HGU | 10120158 | 12.32 | -1.47 |
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