A week after serving as the playing field for the largest takeover in mining history — with Rio Tinto announcing it was acquiring Alcan — the TSX Composite Index proved it still had some legs, rising 130.08 points to 14,468.33 over the July 17-23 trading period.
As is generally the case, the resource-heavy index was pushed up by strong commodities prices.
The price of gold gained US$16 over the period, finishing at US$682 per oz. on the back of the U.S. dollar’s continued weak- ness. The upward mobility of the yellow metal lifted the Global Gold Index 15.42 points to 300.2.
The Capped Metals and Mining Index continued its strong run, gaining another 8.82 points to finish at 938.80. The new heights were reached as base metal prices continued to rise. Copper, aluminum, tin, zinc and lead all made gains, while nickel rebounded back above the US$15-per-lb. mark after dipping into the US$14-range earlier in the period. It finished at US$15.66 per lb.
The most actively traded miners were familiar names, if in a different order from the previous week. Equinox Minerals replaced Eldorado Gold at the top spot with roughly 39 million shares traded, while Eastern Platinum and Eldorado rounded out the top three in a virtual dead heat with roughly 30 million shares traded each.
One of the period’s best growth stories wasn’t a typical mining play. Spur Ventures is looking to consolidate the fertilizer market in China, but its stake in two large phosphate mines helped put it at the top of the gainers by percentage list, with a 45% boost to 90.
Another big gainer for the period was a more traditionally junior mining play. Waterdown, Ont.-based QGX announced a private placement that will see a private Mongolian company buy 5 million QGX shares at $4.15 per share for total proceeds of $20.75 million. The news helped buoy QGX shares by 20% to $3.75. The company said proceeds would be used to develop its Baruun Naran coal project and its Golden Hills copper-gold-silver project, both of which are in Mongolia.
Heading the list of losing companies was one that managed to recall the ghost of Bre-X Minerals. Southwestern Resources lost a staggering 63% of its share price as it fell to $2.23 on the announcement that it was retracting drill results from its Boka gold project, in China. The company is conducting a review of the project, after recently turfing its CEO and its Yunnan, China-based manager.
News that chief executive David Lewis was leaving Starfield Resources after just over a year on the job, coincided with the company losing 25% on the market to close at $1.27. The Toronto-based exploration company’s focus is its Ferguson Lake polymetallic property, in Nunavut.
TSX greatest percentage change
| VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | |||
| Spur Ventures | SVU | 2730 | 0.99 | 0.62 | 0.90 | + | 45.1 |
| CGA Mining | CGA | 76 | 0.70 | 0.69 | 0.69 | + | 25.4 |
| Campbell Res | CCH | 17248 | 0.19 | 0.14 | 0.18 | + | 24.1 |
| Petaquilla Mnl | PTQ | 2276 | 3.23 | 2.47 | 3.10 | + | 24.0 |
| QGX | QGX | 649 | 3.88 | 2.95 | 3.75 | + | 20.9 |
| Allied Nevada | ANV | 129 | 5.68 | 4.60 | 5.66 | + | 20.4 |
| Semafo | SMF | 4416 | 1.93 | 1.45 | 1.77 | + | 19.5 |
| Aura Gold | ORA | 10222 | 1.90 | 1.49 | 1.80 | + | 19.2 |
| Energem Res | ENM | 1022 | 0.55 | 0.37 | 0.475 | + | 18.7 |
| Brazilian Diam | BDY | 276 | 0.225 | 0.16 | 0.225 | + | 18.4 |
| Southwstrn Res | SWG | 14383 | 6.36 | 1.25 | 2.23 | – | 63.0 |
| Starfield Res | SRU | 13410 | 1.70 | 1.20 | 1.27 | – | 25.2 |
| Ascendant C wt | ACX_T | 39 | 0.07 | 0.05 | 0.055 | – | 21.4 |
| Hillsborough | HLB | 2606 | 0.76 | 0.49 | 0.56 | – | 20.0 |
| Centerra Gold | CG | 2883 | 9.55 | 7.02 | 7.48 | – | 18.7 |
| Jaguar Nickel | JNI | 467 | 0.235 | 0.19 | 0.195 | – | 17.0 |
| Wallbridge Mng | WM | 730 | 0.65 | 0.51 | 0.53 | – | 15.8 |
| Coalcorp wt | CCJ_T | 68 | 1.85 | 1.55 | 1.65 | – | 15.3 |
| Pure Diam Expl | PUG | 697 | 0.24 | 0.20 | 0.22 | – | 13.7 |
| Lake Shore Gld | LSG | 2428 | 1.88 | 1.66 | 1.66 | – | 12.1 |
TSX greatest value change
| VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | |||
| First Quantum | FM | 2324206 | 108.80 | + | 3.30 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 14083173 | 36.20 | + | 2.92 |
| Agnico-Eagle | AEM | 5147177 | 46.54 | + | 2.71 |
| Newmont Mng | NMC | 365963 | 45.41 | + | 2.67 |
| Altius Mnrls | ALS | 800038 | 23.73 | + | 2.19 |
| Silvercorp Mtl | SVM | 822084 | 22.73 | + | 2.14 |
| ISh COMEX G Tr | IGT | 17790 | 70.70 | + | 1.82 |
| Banro Res | BAA | 509692 | 12.28 | + | 1.72 |
| Goldcorp | G | 23179907 | 28.80 | + | 1.70 |
| Silver Std Res | SSO | 523552 | 39.95 | + | 1.58 |
| Cameco Corp | CCO | 12826509 | 46.13 | – | 4.31 |
| Southwstrn Res | SWG | 14382764 | 2.23 | – | 3.81 |
| Katanga Mng | KAT | 1769636 | 22.42 | – | 2.50 |
| Fording C C T | FDG_U | 1724353 | 34.89 | – | 1.74 |
| Centerra Gold | CG | 2882928 | 7.48 | – | 1.73 |
| Uranium One | SXR | 20433908 | 13.50 | – | 1.29 |
| Energy Metals | EMC | 4545266 | 15.45 | – | 1.25 |
| Potash Cp Sask | POT | 5038964 | 86.41 | – | 1.10 |
| Aurora Energy | AXU | 310044 | 15.26 | – | 0.79 |
| Aquiline Res | AQI | 477524 | 10.70 | – | 0.77 |
TSX most active issues
| VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | |||
| Equinox Minls | EQN | 38747 | 4.39 | 4.02 | 4.16 | – | 0.23 |
| Eastern Platin | ELR | 29712 | 2.72 | 2.49 | 2.59 | + | 0.06 |
| Eldorado Gold | ELD | 29707 | 5.27 | 4.66 | 5.00 | + | 0.03 |
| Kinross Gold | K | 26950 | 14.96 | 13.69 | 14.76 | + | 1.05 |
| Paladin Res | PDN | 24671 | 7.85 | 7.20 | 7.72 | + | 0.01 |
| Goldcorp | G | 23180 | 29.03 | 2 6.86 |
28.80 | + | 1.70 |
| Thundermin Res | THR | 20625 | 0.58 | 0.36 | 0.395 | – | 0.05 |
| Uranium One | SXR | 20434 | 14.60 | 13.16 | 13.50 | – | 1.29 |
| Yamana Gold | YRI | 18968 | 13.52 | 12.40 | 13.06 | + | 0.51 |
| Breakwater Res | BWR | 17337 | 3.58 | 3.30 | 3.50 | + | 0.14 |
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