Toronto Stock Exchange September 11-17

Higher gold prices were seen as one of the saviours of the TSX Composite Index over the Sept. 11-17 trading session; the index finished the week 105.58 points higher at 13,809.86, despite continued worries over the slowing of the U.S. economy.

Gold’s bullish run lifted it another US$15.50, finishing the period at US$719 per oz. That helped miners like Yamana Gold — the period’s most actively traded with over 62 million shares changing hands — finish 25 higher at $12.19. Fellow gold miners Meridian Gold, Kinross Gold and Goldcorp also moved up on high volumes. Overall, however, stronger prices had only a marginal effect on the Global Gold Index. It gained just 1.85 to finish at 294.68.

The Capped Metals and Mining Index followed the market’s upward trend, climbing 23.72 points. While copper was down for the period, its price was gaining at presstime on low stockpiles at the London Metal Exchange. Nickel prices were higher as well, finishing at US$12.72 per lb., with lead, zinc and tin also seeing a lift.

Gains on base metals, however, were mitigated by fears of a U.S. economic slowdown squeezing demand. The U.S. is the second-largest consumer of copper.

Africo Resources made the biggest gains for the period after the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) justice minister issued a letter saying that it, and not rival Akam, was the rightful owner of the Kalukundi copper and cobalt property. News of the letter sent the company’s shares up 70% to $1.70.

Khan Resources was also the recipient of good news from government. After being told in August that its exploration licence for the Additional Dornod uranium property was being revoked, the Mongolian government did an about-face. The government now says the licence will remain in Khan’s possession, but that the company will have to upgrade to a mining licence. The company’s shares soared nearly 44% on the news to $2.46.

Fellow uranium explorer Western Prospector Group also made gains on the news, climbing 60% to $2.37 per share. The company holds exploration licences at the Saddle Hills uranium project in Mongolia.

Renewed confidence in the Mongolian government also aided fellow Canadian miner QGX, which has coal and other properties in the country. The company’s shares gained 34% to $3.22 apiece for the week.

On the downside, Gabriel Resources took the brunt of market dissatisfaction after the Romanian government announced it was suspending its environmental impact assessment review of the company’s Rosia Montana gold project. The suspension comes on the heels of a court challenge to the environmental process by two NGOs, one of which — the Open Society Institute — is tied to billionaire philanthropist George Soros. The NGOs are challenging the validity of a certificate needed to win a construction permit.

TSX greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Africo Res	ARL	668	2.25	1.00	1.70	+	70.0
New Gold wt	NGD_T	19	0.17	0.15	0.16	+	60.0
Khan Res	KRI	6014	2.60	1.79	2.46	+	43.8
QGX	QGX	1037	3.26	2.32	3.22	+	34.1
Kinross Gld wt	K_T	1281	0.40	0.28	0.34	+	25.9
Strateco Res	RSC	12210	2.53	1.94	2.35	+	24.3
Moydow Mns Int	MOY	64	0.25	0.235	0.25	+	21.9
Golden Peaks	GL	72	2.32	1.85	2.28	+	21.9
Grande Cache C	GCE	2343	1.25	0.99	1.21	+	21.0
Spur Ventures	SVU	5101	0.64	0.49	0.59	+	20.4
Glencairn G wt	GGG_T	225	0.035	0.025	0.025	–	28.5
Gabriel Res	GBU	15336	3.66	2.00	2.42	–	28.4
Sulliden Expl	SUE	408	0.36	0.26	0.28	–	26.3
Ascendant Copp	ACX	1929	0.23	0.165	0.18	–	21.7
Franc-Or Res	FOR	12	0.18	0.18	0.18	–	16.2
Yukon Gold	YK	51	0.36	0.30	0.30	–	14.2
Glencairn Gold	GGG	8631	0.195	0.14	0.155	–	13.8
American Bonan	BZA	513	0.22	0.19	0.19	–	13.6
Orvana Mnrls	ORV	479	0.84	0.70	0.72	–	13.2
Tiomin Res	TIO	9611	0.115	0.095	0.10	–	13.0

TSX greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
First Quantum	FM	3027350	86.75	+ 11.05
Cameco Corp	CCO	10516889	44.20	+	2.80
Inmet Mining	IMN	1556511	96.29	+	2.42
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF_U	503099	38.80	+	2.27
Altius Mnrls	ALS	845134	19.89	+	1.74
Uranium One	UUU	15258948	12.70	+	1.70
Fronteer Dev G	FRG	1274206	9.70	+	1.55
Denison Mines	DML	7654676	10.25	+	1.52
Agrium	AGU	4688028	50.45	+	1.45
Gammon Gold	GAM	4938981	9.80	+	1.40
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	5532823	49.24	–	2.06
Alcan	AL	3609004	101.83	–	1.97
Katanga Mng	KAT	5697455	18.05	–	1.67
Gabriel Res	GBU	15335838	2.42	–	0.96
Teal Expl & Mg	TL	100765	5.30	–	0.79
Potash Cp Sask	POT	4076917	91.88	–	0.62
Dynasty Met&Mn	DMM	286925	7.64	–	0.55
Gold Reserve	GRZ	339789	4.41	–	0.55
Barrick Gold	ABX	14872576	38.42	–	0.54
Central Gold-T	GTU_U	21175	27.45	–	0.53

TSX most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Yamana Gold	YRI	62073	12.45	11.85	12.19	+	0.25
Breakwater Res	BWR	39356	2.54	2.36	2.47	+	0.06
Northern Orion	NNO	34997	6.44	5.69	5.75	–	0.37
Meridian Gold	MNG	23255	31.70	30.01	30.89	+	0.65
Kinross Gold	K	22784	14.74	13.97	14.40	+	0.38
Goldcorp	G	19194	28.75	27.15	28.50	+	1.23
Equinox Minls	EQN	18609	3.99	3.68	3.84	+	0.17
Gabriel Res	GBU	15336	3.66	2.00	2.42	–	0.96
Uranium One	UUU	15259	13.09	11.01	12.70	+	1.70
Paladin Res	PDN	15107	6.07	5.04	5.89	+	0.80