Toronto Stock Exchange -March 17-23

More details from U. S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner regarding how the toxic asset mess would be cleaned up helped lift markets in New York and Toronto over the March 17-23 reporting period. The TSX composite index rallied 572 points, with much of that gain coming on March 23, the day Geithner made his announcement.

And while words from the Treasury Secretary bolstered financials the most, the materials sector still did well on the back of higher metal prices.

A higher gold price lifted the Global Gold index by 30 points to 334.43, while higher copper, aluminum, tin, lead and zinc prices conspired to give the Capped Metals and Mining index some upward momentum. It finished the period 44 points higher at 357.17.

Teck’s class B shares were the most actively traded for the period with roughly 62 million shares changing hands. For a change, all the activity was good news for Teck with its shares climbing steadily from their $3.72 close on March 9. They finished the period at $6.64.

Baffinland Iron Mines had a strong run over the period, finishing 84% higher at 35¢. At the beginning of the month, the TSX announced that an investigation into the company concluded that it did indeed meet its continued listing requirements. Then, on March 19, Baffinland announced it was eligible to receive loans from the German government because its Mary River deposit, in Nunavut, is of significant importance to Germany’s import of raw materials. Iron ore from the site will eventually supply German steel mills.

Word that Platmin had commissioned its Pilanesberg project in South Africa’s Bushveld Complex sent the platinum miner’s shares up 84% to 92¢. The commissioning — and the cash flows that should soon begin to stream into its coffers — are key for a company that has found itself in financial straits. At the beginning of the month, it announced it had to have a bridge-loan facility extended because it couldn’t make payment.

Troubling times for Denison Mines continued to weigh down the uranium miner’s share price. Its stock was down 32% to 91¢, a dramatic fall considering that this time last year its shares were trading in the $9-range. The latest drop came after it said it will temporarily suspend production at its Sunday and Rim mines in the western United States, and will likely shut down in May its White Mesa mill in Utah. Denison also said it will have to sell some of its assets to avoid violating a debt covenant. Then, on March 23, the company announced its chief executive Peter Farmer would be stepping down. No replacement names have yet been announced. Finally, to cap off an eventful period, the company announced a deal with Pitchstone Exploration that would let Pitchstone earn up to 75% of Denison’s Johnston Lake property in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin.

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Teck B	TCKB	62015	6.69	4.85	6.64	+ 1.36
Yamana Gold	YRI	45052	11.75	9.60	11.40	+ 1.13
Uranium One	UUU	40495	2.80	2.21	2.71	+ 0.47
Barrick Gold	ABX	33188	42.09	34.52	40.54	+ 2.96
HoriznsGBull	HGU	31962	14.56	10.26	13.85	+ 2.10
Lundin Mng	LUN	31261	1.55	1.11	1.52	+ 0.42
Goldcorp	G	29925	42.84	34.40	41.82	+ 4.71
Kinross Gold	K	28062	23.24	19.15	22.30	+ 2.13
Paladin Energy	PDN	24368	3.22	2.70	3.04	+ 0.38
Denison Mines	DML	23873	1.42	0.81	0.91	-0.43

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Baffinland Irn	BIM	7519	0.38	0.19	0.35	+ 84.2
Platmin	PPN	597	0.95	0.50	0.92	+ 84.0
Banro Res	BAA	363	2.76	1.36	2.38	+ 70.0
Acadian Mng	ADA	2380	0.05	0.03	0.05	+ 66.6
Augusta Res	AZC	267	1.76	1.00	1.63	+ 52.3
Pure Diam Expl	PUG	660	0.04	0.02	0.03	+ 50.0
Hillsborough	HLB	1634	0.28	0.19	0.28	+ 47.3
Pinetree Cap	PNP	4403	1.50	0.92	1.38	+ 45.2
Candente Res	DNT	1146	0.30	0.19	0.29	+ 45.0
Etruscan Res	EET	1130	0.54	0.35	0.50	+ 42.8
Diamond Fields	DFI	727	0.05	0.03	0.04	-42.8
North Atlc Res	NAC	35	0.12	0.07	0.07	-41.6
Dejour Enterp	DEJ	518	0.38	0.28	0.29	-35.5
Denison Mines	DML	23873	1.42	0.81	0.91	-32.0
Linear Metals	LRM	33	0.05	0.05	0.05	-28.5
Silver Bear Rs	SBR	623	0.41	0.32	0.32	-25.5
Yukon Gold	YK	223	0.04	0.03	0.03	-25.0
Carlisle Goldf	CGJ	637	0.06	0.04	0.04	-20.0
Canadn Gld Hun	CGH	174	0.31	0.25	0.26	-18.7
Horizns G Bear	HGD	14182	9.76	6.66	7.02	-18.2

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Agnico-Eagle AEM	7515098	69.27	+ 7.39
Newmont Mng NMC	94615	54.61	+ 6.86
Royal Gold RGL	35058	55.03	+ 5.27
Central Gold-T GTU_U	65259	5 6.50	+ 5.09
Potash Cp Sask POT	9262778	101.32	+ 4.90
Goldcorp G	29925479	41.82	+ 4.71
First Quantum FM	3106489	42.22	+ 4.62
Pan Am Silver PAA	1076147	22.26	+ 4.04
Silver Std Res SSO	1150588	20.37	+ 3.41
Seabridge Gold SEA	147724	27.71	+ 3.07
IShCOMEXGTr IGT	91422	112.70	-2.90
Horizns G Bear HGD	14181543	7.02	-1.57
Denison Mines DML	23873173	0.91	-0.43
Timminco TIM	6854844	2.16	-0.41
Cardero Res CDU	2059790	1.49	-0.30
Solitario Res SLR	23392	1.45	-0.25
Dynasty Met&Mn DMM	214434	4.98	-0.22
NovaGold Res NG	5278401	2.89	-0.17
Dejour Enterp DEJ	517502	0.29	-0.16
Gold Reserve GRZ	426063	0.87	-0.13