U.S. MARKETS -MARCH 16-22

The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 99.91 points or 0.94% to finish the March 16-22 reporting period at 10,785.89, while the S&P 500 index advanced 6.36 points or 0.55% to 1,165.81. The Nasdaq rose 17.39 points or 0.73% to close at 2,395.40.

Rio Tinto topped the headlines this week and the value chart with an advance of US$3.82 per share to US$226.15. On March 19 the mining giant announced it had signed a deal with China’s metals conglomerate, Chinalco, to help develop its iron ore reserves in Guinea, West Africa. Chinalco will take a 47% stake in the Simandou project for its US$1.35-billion investment. Meanwhile, the trial of four Rio Tinto employees accused of receiving bribes ande stealing commercial secrets started in Shanghai on March 22.

Gold moved lower, falling from its New York close of US$1,125.90 per oz. on March 16 to US$1,102.60 per oz. on March 22, a drop of US$23.3 per oz. or 2.1%. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver index lost 3.43 points or 2.02% to finish at 166.49.

Lihir Gold, which produced a total of 1.12 million oz. gold last year from its three gold-producing operations in Papua New Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa and Queensland in Australia, ranked third in the list of value gains during the reporting period. The company advanced US$1.97 to US$29.03 per share, driven perhaps in part by news that its stock has been added to the FTSE All-World index, as well as sub-indices including the FTSE Asia Pacific index and the FTSE Australia index. The FTSE All-World index Series is the large/mid-cap aggregate of 2,700 stocks from the FTSE Global Equity index Series. Earlier this month, Lihir Gold added US$4.1 million in cash to its treasury, and an additional 2.5% royalty interest in future production, capped at US$45.9 million, from the sale of its Ballarat gold project in Victoria, 100 km west of Melbourne, to Castlemaine Goldfields.

Newmont Mining gained US$1.67 per share to close at US$51.40. On March 17, the company announced that its Indonesian subsidiary had completed the sale of 7% of PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PTNNT) under its 2009 divestiture obligations, for $247 million.

U.S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	237920 14.82	13.52	14.34	+ 0.83
Freeport McMo*FCX	66108 83.00	76.77	79.80	-0.86
Hecla Mining* HL	56186 5.95	5.22	5.42	-0.07
Goldspring* GSPG	50916 0.01	0.01	0.01	0.00
Barrick Gold* ABX	48664 40.61	38.50	39.41	+ 0.40
Arch Coal* ACI	44042 26.90	22.88	23.52	-1.10
Goldcorp* GG	41746 40.35	37.92	38.57	-0.52
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	35220 50.42	45.50	46.60	-0.56
Newmont Mng* NEM	34505 52.19	49.87	51.40	+ 1.67
Potash C Sask* POT	33492 128.42	119.12	122.96	-1.98

U.S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	13	0.08	0.06	0.08	+ 60.0
Linux Gold*	LNXGF	134	0.07	0.05	0.06	+ 50.0
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	15	0.04	0.03	0.04	+ 33.3
Nevsun Res*	NSU	7925	3.27	2.62	3.08	+ 19.3
Dejour Enterp*	DEJ	266	0.37	0.32	0.36	+ 16.1
DouglasLkMl*	DLKM	227	0.24	0.20	0.24	+ 14.2
US Antimony*	UAMY	74	0.42	0.32	0.40	+ 14.2
NWT Uranium*	NWURF	36	0.20	0.15	0.18	+ 12.5
Global Gold*	GBGD	148	0.20	0.12	0.18	+ 12.5
Legend Intl H*	LGDI	1515	1.38	1.20	1.35	+ 12.5
Geocom Res*	GOCM	34	0.01	0.01	0.01	-50.0
Affinity Gold*	AFYG	1487	0.47	0.28	0.29	-30.9
America West*	AWSR	358	0.17	0.05	0.12	-25.0
Grandview Gld*	GVGDF	85	0.09	0.08	0.08	-20.0
Caledonia Mng*	CALVF	677	0.07	0.05	0.06	-14.2
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	37	0.14	0.09	0.13	-13.3
PolyMet Mng*	PLM	2460	2.48	2.10	2.15	-12.6
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	75	0.17	0.14	0.14	-12.5
Miranda Gold*	MRDDF	170	0.60	0.46	0.50	-12.2
Corriente Rs*	ETQ	3529	8.47	6.69	7.34	-11.8

U.S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto* RTP	3798728	226.15	+ 3.82
Cliffs Nat Rs* CLF	29961263	65.24	+ 2.09
Lihir Gold* LIHR	1753651	29.03	+ 1.97
Newmont Mng* NEM	34504718	51.40	+ 1.67
Massey Energy* MEE	29428284	50.85	+ 1.60
Royal Gold* RGLD	3855725	47.31	+ 1.56
BHP Billi-BHP* BHP	17068306	78.69	+ 0.93
BHP Billi-BBL* BBL	6817810	66.71	+ 0.87
AngloGold Ash* AU	7939693	38.45	+ 0.84
Alcoa* AA	237919657	14.34	+ 0.83
CONSOL Energy* CNX	32284108	44.69	-4.16
Mosaic* MOS	26063687	59.19	-3.20
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	22846027	47.02	-2.60
Potash C Sask* POT	33491751	122.96	-1.98
Arch Coal* ACI	44042268	23.52	-1.10
Agrium* AGU	2254500	70 .63	-1.08
Buenaventura* BVN	5763228	31.06	-0.99
Corriente Rs* ETQ	3528921	7.34	-0.99
Freeport McMo* FCX	66107916	79.80	-0.86
Intrepid Pots* IPI	1673000	30.70	-0.75