TSX rides golden jet

Quarter-century-high gold prices combined with climbing energy prices to push the resource-laden TSX to its highest-ever close of 11,620.46 points on Jan. 6. Canada’s benchmark index later eased slightly to end the Jan. 3-9 report period 292.95 points, or 2.6% higher at 11,565.21.

Bullion continued its post-Christmas run, gaining another US$25.50 to US$541 per oz. by the end of trading in London on Jan. 9. The jump is partly owing to talk that China plans to diversify some of its foreign exchange reserves away from the greenback and into the yellow metal. Not surprisingly, the gold index shot up just shy of 10% to 276.58. The rest of the shiny metals also posted gains, as did the base metals. The diversified metals and mining index rose by 6.4% to 412.73.

Bema Gold used the golden surge to catch up with its peers. The mid-tier producer saw more than 50 million shares climb 76 to $4.13. Some market watchers speculate that the company may be ripe for a takeover.

Speaking of takeovers, the battle over Bolivar Gold‘s planned acquisition by South Africa’s Gold Fields recently intensified, with California-based Scion Capital asking the Ontario Superior Court to prevent Gold Fields from voting some 5 million recently acquired Bolivar shares in favour of the deal. Scion, Bolivar’s largest shareholder at about 19%, says the shares were purchased contrary to securities regulations governing takeover bids. Bolivar ended 3 better at $2.96 with nearly 28 million shares changing hands.

Next in line was Queenstake Resources, which rose 12 to hit 35.5 on a trading volume of around 25.4 million shares. A redevelopment plan at the company’s Jerritt Canyon mine complex in Nevada helped trim the company’s recent third-quarter loss to US$4.3 million, down from US$5.6 million during the previous quarter.

The report period also saw a raft of impressive percentage gainers, with Apollo Gold rocketing ahead 24, or 92.3% to 50. The Colorado-based company recently substituted its cornerstone Black Fox gold project in northern Ontario as collateral for its US$8.73-million principal amount Series B convertible debentures. The move frees up US$10.9 million in cash, with US$2.6 million used to release an existing mortgage over the project. The deal also saw the exercise price of some 5 million warrants attached to the debentures halved to US40 per share.

Others on the rise were: Zaruma Resources, plus 75% to 14; Northern Peru Copper, up 59% to $3.50; Campbell Resources, up 55.5% to 21; X-Cal Resources, 53.8% better at 40; Diamond Fields International, gaining 52.9% to hit 26; and Cross Lake Minerals, which jumped 50% to 10.5.

Infill drilling by Northern Peru recently returned the best ever hole from the Galeno copper-gold-molybdenum project in Peru — 400 metres running 0.8% copper, 0.2 gram gold per tonne, and 0.015% molybdenum.

Back in Canada, Campbell boosted measured and indicated resources at the Corner Bay project in Quebec to 1.3 million tonnes running 4.47% copper. The increase reflects new material intersected beneath the previous resource of 832,000 tonnes of 5.27% copper.

Diamond Fields’ ascent was powered by the company’s first kimberlite find on its Grand Cape exploration licence in western Liberia.

Another first propelled Constellation Copper 11 or 8% higher to $1.51. Copper-rich solution has begun flowing from the heap pad at the company’s Lisbon Valley copper mine in Utah. The operation’s solvent extraction-electrowinning plant is expected to be completed by mid-January.