Market news: Toronto Stock Exchange

The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 84 points to 12,296.72 for the period, as stronger-than-anticipated manufacturing numbers out of China outweighed fears over the looming fiscal cliff south of the border.

Strong economic signals from China did little to lift the fortunes of gold miners, however, as the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index was off a point to 298.55, with the price of gold falling US$8 to US$1,697 per oz.

But the news rippled through the base metals market, with China being the largest consumer of copper. The red metal’s price was up a penny to US$3.68 per lb., and the S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals & Mining Index was up 33 points to 985.59 points.

Torex Gold hit the highest-grade intercepts yet at its Morelos gold project in Mexico, and its share price reflected the results. The company’s stock was one of the period’s most actively traded, and its price climbed 5¢ to $2.16. The results came out of the Media Luna and Media Luna West targets, and were highlighted by 21 metres grading 30.31 grams gold, 12.2 metres grading 15.56 grams gold and 5.2 metres grading 28.6 grams gold.

Shares in Stornoway Diamond rallied after a big find at its Renard diamond project in Quebec. The company’s shares were up 27% to 65¢ after announcing it had discovered one of the most valuable stones yet at the project. A 9.78-carat diamond with a value of $7,000 was recovered while processing a bulk sample. Roughly one-third of the bulk sample has been processed, and 11 diamonds larger than 1.8 carats have been recovered so far. The bulk sampling is being done as part of the company’s plan to convert inferred mineral resources to the indicated category.

Alderon Iron Ore is getting closer to securing a power supply for its Kamistiatusset project in the Labrador Trough. The company hired Nalcor Energy to complete third-stage engineering and an assessment of the proposed power supply — which could take up to eight months. Investors were encouraged by the news and sent the company’s stock price 25% higher to $1.68. Construction is expected to begin towards the end of next year on the mine, which would cost $989 million to build.

Centamin had a rough period, although things were shaping up at press time. The company’s stock was off 33% to 55¢, owing to a shortage of diesel and working capital that forced it to close its Sukari gold mine. The stock rebounded, however, when it announced that the mine would resume normal operations in the coming days. The lack of diesel came after Egyptian General Petroleum halted supplies of fuel to the mine, saying the company owed US$65 million for past deliveries. Centamin called the actions illegal and arbitrary, and says it will not have to pay the amount.

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TSX most active issues, December 10 – 14

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Uranium One	UUU	76805	2.04	1.79	2.01	+	0.21
Torex Gold	TXG	22019	2.28	2.09	2.16	+	0.05
Yamana Gold	YRI	15905	17.92	16.99	17.23	–	0.44
B2Gold	BTO	12620	3.75	3.5	3.62	+	0.14
Eldorado Gold	ELD	11819	13.64	13.04	13.29	–	0.12
Goldcorp	G	11688	38.23	36.13	36.49	–	0.38
Barrick Gold	ABX	11662	34.95	33.37	33.92	+	0.65
Lundin Mng	LUN	11426	5.19	5	5.15	+	0.14
Kinross Gold	K	11017	9.92	9.5	9.65	+	0.04
Sprott Res	SCP	10849	4.15	3.5	3.92	+	0.36

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TSX greatest percentage change,  December 10 – 14

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		Volume
Company	Symbol	(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Red Cresc Res	RCB	532	0.04	0.03	0.04	+	75
Stockport Expl	SPT	259	0.11	0.07	0.11	+	37.5
Champion Minls	CHM	1931	0.63	0.46	0.63	+	34
Pure Nickel	NIC	696	0.07	0.05	0.07	+	30
Stornoway Diam	SWY	2002	0.71	0.5	0.65	+	27.4
Alderon Iron O	ADV	1765	1.68	1.35	1.68	+	25.3
Quest Rare Mnl	QRM	1113	1.28	1.01	1.28	+	23
Polaris Minls	PLS	177	1.02	0.81	1	+	21.9
Frontier Rr Er	FRO	287	0.73	0.57	0.69	+	21
Labdr Iron Mns	LIM	3105	0.9	0.74	0.88	+	20.5
Grandview Gld	GVX	666	0.01	0.01	0.01	–	50
Centamin	CEE	7531	0.9	0.42	0.55	–	33.3
Candente Gold	CDG	91	0.12	0.1	0.1	–	20.8
Meadow Bay Gd	MAY	430	0.3	0.23	0.24	–	20
Victory Nickel	NI	500	0.03	0.02	0.02	–	20
Elemental Mnls	ELM	81	0.49	0.4	0.4	–	20
Starcore Int V	SAM	1527	0.36	0.28	0.29	–	18.3
Western Lithiu	WLC	525	0.15	0.13	0.13	–	16.6
Marathon Gold	MOZ	71	0.73	0.6	0.61	–	16.4
Pac Rim Mining	PMU	3058	0.11	0.09	0.09	–	15

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TSX greatest value change, December 10 – 14

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Company	Symbol	Change	Close	Change
Walter Energy	WLT	19867	37.12	+	3.28
Inmet Mining	IMN	1922486	69.83	+	3.07
Seabridge Gold	SEA	161584	17.52	+	2.2
Franco-Nevada	FNV	2238789	57.42	+	1.88
Silver Std Res	SSO	766130	15.05	+	1.44
Potash Cp Sask	POT	7399449	40.44	+	1.4
Silver Wheaton	SLW	5069182	36.65	+	1.24
Russell Metals	RUS	1079481	27.49	+	1.22
Teck Res A	TCKA	21392	36.73	+	1.17
Teck Res B	TCKB	8680844	35.28	+	1.13
Agrium	AGU	4098990	96.52	–	2.22
Kirkland Lk Gd	KGI	7100768	6.74	–	1.18
Central Fund	CEFA	247035	21.88	–	0.74
Allied Nevada	ANV	656787	29.86	–	0.65
Newmont Mng	NMC	14645	44.9	–	0.57
Yamana Gold	YRI	15905466	17.23	–	0.44
Goldcorp	G	11687621	36.49	–	0.38
Sprott Ph Silv	PHSU	131485	12.76	–	0.37
Royal Cdn Mint	MNT	323416	18.34	–	0.34
Vista Gold	VGZ	143141	2.62	–	0.31