Toronto Stock Exchange – Sept. 1 – 4

The S&P/TSX composite index increased by 1.4%, or 149.26 points, to 11,017.47 points over the Sept. 1-4 trading period, which was shortened by the Labour Day holiday on Sept. 7.

Some of the increase was due to mining stocks; the Capped Metals & Mining index was rose 4.5%, or 34.78 points, to 815.47 points.

Much of the excitement surrounded gold stocks, as hopes grew that the yellow metal could rise into the four-digit price range, a reality reached after the trading period’s end. Gold reached rose US$24 over th period to US$989 per oz. by Sept. 4, creating enough buzz to push the Global Gold Index up 13%, or 40.89 points, to 347.99 points.

It’s no surprise, then, that gold stocks were the most actively traded. Eldorado Gold, in the process of completing a $2-billion friendly deal for Sino Gold, was the most actively traded stock with more than 55 million shares traded. Eldorado shares rose 92¢ to $12.22 apiece.

No stranger to being a volume leader, Yamana Gold saw 49 million shares change hands, pushing the stock up $1.38 to $11.45 apiece. There was no big news from the company except for reaching commercial production at its recently-sold Sao Vicente mine in Brazil. The company will complete the deal with Aura Minerals by the end of the year.

Centamin Egypt shares were also quite actively traded with a volume of 31.2 million shares. The operator of the Sukari Hill gold project in Egypt saw the stock rise 29¢ to $1.77.

When it came to value change, low-cost gold producer Agnico-Eagle Mines topped the list, adding $10.36 to its share price to close out the period at $73.15. Royal Gold, a gold royalty company, saw shares rise $6.61 apiece to $50.10 per share while the shares of heavyweight gold miner Newmont Mining surged $6.42 to $50.25.

And moving away from the usual market movers, Avalon Rare Metals shares rose significantly over the period. Avalon, which is in the process of completing a prefeasibility study on its Thor Lake rare earth element project in the Northwest Territories, saw shares go up 34.6% over the period to $3.48 apiece. In the last few weeks, the company has updated its resource estimate for the project and announced a bought-deal financing worth $12.5 million. The funds will go toward the study and further exploration.

Vista Gold, up 32.5% to $2.65 over the period, announced a feasibility study update on capital and operating costs for its Amarillos gold project in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The 11,000 tonne-per-day open pit mine, which would produce about 127,400 oz. gold per year over 9.4 years is now expected to have lower preproduction costs at US$189.8 million (downUS$7.4 million) and lower average life-of-mine cash costs at US$406 per oz. (down US$15 per oz.).

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Eldorado Gold	ELD	55020	12.58	10.74	12.22	+ 0.92
Yamana Gold	YRI	49004	11.90	9.91	11.45	+ 1.38
Centamin Egypt	CEE	31200	1.87	1.42	1.77	+ 0.29
Lundin Mng	LUN	24594	4.00	3.57	3.95	+ 0.23
Kinross Gold	K	23442	24.36	20.21	23.80	+ 3.02
WesternCCoal	WTN	22353	2.80	2.32	2.78	+0.14
Barrick Gold	ABX	20157	43.97	37.99	43.50	+ 5.72
IAMGold Corp	IMG	18661	16.09	12.31	15.03	+ 2.31
HoriznsGBull	HGU	18651	14.29	10.52	13.83	+ 2.96
New Gold	NGD	18283	4.18	3.54	4.06	+ 0.34

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Marengo Mng	MRN	299	0.17	0.11	0.15	+200.0
High River Gol	HRG	3820	0.47	0.34	0.47	+ 42.4
Witwatersrand	WGR	27	12.00	8.65	11.00	+ 37.5
Geologix Ex	GIX	671	0.22	0.15	0.22	+ 37.5
DundeePrecMt	DPM	3116	3.06	1.90	2.75	+ 37.5
Yorbeau Res A	YRBA	650	0.16	0.10	0.15	+ 36.3
Avalon Rare Mt	AVL	4436	3.49	2.56	3.48	+ 34.8
Vista Gold	VGZ	252	2.75	1.96	2.65	+ 32.5
Sulliden Expl	SUE	1706	0.91	0.68	0.91	+ 30.0
Claude Res	CRJ	1911	0.82	0.61	0.80	+ 29.0
Horizns G Bear	HGD	14399	6.74	4.71	4.87	-25.4
Goldstake Exp	GXP	1373	0.03	0.02	0.03	-25.0
Crescent Gold	CRA	20	0.14	0.10	0.10	-23.0
Wallbridge Mng	WM	616	0.16	0.12	0.12	-20.0
Fletcher Nicke	FL	57	0.05	0.05	0.05	-16.6
Africo Res	ARL	120	0.73	0.73	0.73	-15.1
Armistice Res	AZ	191	0.17	0.14	0.14	-12.5
Ursa Major Min	UMJ	66	0.08	0.08	0.08	-11.1
Inspiration Mg	ISM	353	0.67	0.58	0.58	-10.7
Peregrine Diam	PGD	377	0.67	0.59	0.60	-10.4

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	4914102	73.15	+ 10.36
Royal Gold	RGL	34008	50.10	+ 6.61
Newmont Mng	NMC	191597	50.25	+ 6.42
Barrick Gold	ABX	20157482	43.50	+ 5.72
Inmet Mining	IMN	2664130	52.93	+ 5.47
Goldcorp	G	16252725	44.95	+ 5.06
First Quantum	FM	2096325	69.25	+ 4.42
IShCOMEXGTr	IGT	31415	105.87	+ 3.45
Pan Am Silver	PAA	1312128	24.45	+ 3.03
Kinross Gold	K	23442299	23.80	+ 3.02
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF_U	244720	34.05	-2.38
Horizns G Bear	HGD	14398943	4.87	-1.66
Teck A	TCKA	15480	27.15	-0.34
Paladin Energy	PDN	8124099	4.18	-0.21
Labdr Iron Mns	LIM	161990	1.50	-0.15
Africo Res	ARL	120092	0.73	-0.13
Global Ur Fund	GUR	24620	2.36	-0.10
Northland Res	NAU	27200	0.92	-0.09
Corriente Res	CTQ	977187	6.52	-0.09
Inspiration Mg	ISM	352915	0.58	-0.07