Toronto Stock Exchange October 2-5

The TSX Composite Index rose a modest 32.76 points for the Oct. 2-5 Thanksgiving holiday-shortened trading period as economic data for the week continued to point to a healthy Canadian economy. One key indicator was stronger than expected employment numbers from the U.S. The news means the economy of Canada’s largest trading partner may not be slowing as quickly as thought.

Gold prices cooled off some, falling nearly US$10 to US$733.75 per oz. — a decline that weighed down the Global Gold Index by 6.48 points to 302.87.

The Capped Metals & Mining Index wasn’t as encumbered by lower base metal prices. Despite a decline in copper, aluminum, nickel, and zinc prices, the diversified miners gained just over 7 points to finish at 907.33. Lead and tin finished higher, closing at US$1.69 per lb. and US$7.18 per lb., respectively.

With more than 418 million shares outstanding, the liquidity of Breakwater Resources continued to help make it the most popular choice of base metal investors. The company, which operates four zinc mines, saw over 40 million shares traded during the session and gained 10 to close at $3.17 per share.

Sulliden Exploration was the largest gainer by percentage, after Venture Exchange-listed Century Mining announced an all-share takeover bid for the company. The offer represents a 51% premium on Sulliden’s average share price over the 20 days preceding the offer. Sulliden shares climbed 36% to 40 on the news.

Grandview Gold’s corporate restructuring coincided with a 26% increase in its share price as it climbed to 83 for the period. On Oct. 5, the Toronto-based company announced it was issuing some 2 million incentive stock options to management and consultants.

Norsemont Mining continued its bull run, gaining 23% to hit a 52-week high of $2.35 at presstime. The company, which is conducting a scoping study on its Constancia copper project in Peru’s Andes Mountains, is reshuffling its management team, most recently hiring a new chief financial officer.

As for stocks moved by drilling, low-grade gold results from Cline Mining’s Cline Lake project, near Wawa, Ont., helped bolster the company’s share price by 23% to 24. And results from Victory Nickel’s Lac Rocher nickel project in Northern Quebec proved to be eye-popping. The Toronto-based company moved up nearly 20% to 67 on the assays, which were highlighted by intersections of 9.5% nickel over 2.3 metres and 1.4% nickel over 46 metres.

Coalcorp Mining was the period’s largest decliner by percentage. Shares in the company fell 29% to $2.20 after it announced that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe won’t allow a coal export port to be built in Cartagena Bay — the location of Coalcorp’s proposed coal port. Uribe said the port would conflict with tourism, but offered that an alternative location for the port could be found. Coalcorp said it would try to convince the government to reconsider.

TSX greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Sulliden Expl	SUE	1131	0.425	0.29	0.395	+	36.2
Minco Gold	MMM	524	1.09	0.75	1.05	+	34.6
Grandview Gld	GVX	768	0.94	0.68	0.83	+	25.7
Hillsborough	HLB	408	0.58	0.485	0.58	+	23.4
Cline Mng	CMK	430	0.245	0.195	0.24	+	23.0
Norsemont Mng	NOM	2669	2.25	1.78	2.21	+	22.7
Birch Mountn	BMD	411	1.79	1.42	1.78	+	21.0
GLR Res	GRS	136	0.54	0.41	0.49	+	20.9
Victory Nickel	NI	5077	0.74	0.52	0.67	+	19.6
Nevoro	NVR	462	0.50	0.43	0.50	+	19.0
Coalcorp wt	CCJ_T	363	0.70	0.30	0.325	–	63.8
Coalcorp Mng	CCJ	9245	3.15	1.75	2.20	–	29.0
Glencairn G wt	GGG_T	393	0.04	0.025	0.03	–	25.0
Energem Res	ENM	443	0.355	0.30	0.35	–	21.3
Armistice Res	AZ	16	0.70	0.56	0.56	–	20.0
CGA Mining	CGA	623	1.20	0.95	1.03	–	15.5
Sierra Minls	SIM	60	0.42	0.36	0.36	–	14.2
Pac NW Cap	PFN	121	0.48	0.41	0.42	–	13.4
Aquila Res	AQA	388	1.16	0.95	0.97	–	13.3
Kinross Gld wt	K_T	1093	0.34	0.285	0.33	–	13.1

TSX greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Timminco	TIM	7636190	15.60	+	1.40
Silvercorp Mtl	SVM	891370	21.61	+	1.29
Fording C C T	FDG_U	1935346	39.10	+	1.25
Dundee Prec Mt	DPM	124295	9.25	+	1.08
Detour Gold	DGC	275303	9.00	+	1.00
Northern Peru	NOC	400605	10.93	+	0.94
Migao	MGO	620140	9.45	+	0.81
Fronteer Dev G	FRG	1179001	11.23	+	0.76
Allied Nevada	ANV	1936647	6.11	+	0.68
Mountain Prov	MPV	237907	5.10	+	0.60
Potash Cp Sask	POT	4423900	103.19	–	5.54
Cameco Corp	CCO	7006772	41.76	–	2.84
Agrium	AGU	3042227	52.60	–	2.18
Inmet Mining	IMN	672253	101.30	–	1.70
Quadra Mng	QUA	3298255	17.99	–	1.61
ISh COMEX G Tr	IGT	25935	71.94	–	1.50
FNX Mining	FNX	2000343	32.45	–	1.29
Horizns G Bull	HGU	743783	24.18	–	1.05
Coalcorp Mng	CCJ	9244529	2.20	–	0.90
Newmont Mng	NMC	166732	44.77	–	0.84

TSX most active issues

< td>Barrick Gold

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Breakwater Res	BWR	40602	3.24	2.93	3.17	+	0.10
Yamana Gold	YRI	23631	11.79	11.05	11.64	–	0.24
Kinross Gold	K	21840	15.10	14.43	15.00	–	0.34
Eastern Platin	ELR	18122	2.34	2.16	2.31	–	0.01
ABX	15412	40.45	38.84	40.19	–	0.67
Equinox Minls	EQN	14889	4.52	4.13	4.47	+	0.02
Goldcorp	G	14703	30.79	29.26	30.36	–	0.61
Eldorado Gold	ELD	13024	6.13	5.82	6.12	–	0.13
Aurelian Res	ARU	12780	8.13	6.80	7.90	+	0.53
Glencairn Gold	GGG	12739	0.19	0.15	0.18	–	0.025