The S&P/TSX Composite rose 150.96 points during the week to end at 14,205.72. The spot price for gold rose US$7 per oz. to $1,326.10, pushing up the gold miners. The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index added 4.03 points to 204.82, while the S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals & Mining index stayed relatively flat at 832.86 points.
Verde Potash was the week’s top percentage gainer, soaring 78.5% to $1. The boost came after the company said on Feb. 18 that it could receive up to 90% of the funds needed to build the first phase of its Cerrado Verde potash project in Brazil. The company submitted its business plan to Inova Agro — the Brazilian government’s program to financially support agriculture-related projects — last August, where it requested US$105 million to help develop the initial US$115-million, 1,000-tonne-per-day operation. In September, the company found out it will advance to the next round of evaluations, which it passed. The government will meet with the selected companies starting March 19 to define the funding structure, Verde says.
Labrador Iron Mines topped the percentage losers, dropping 27% to close at 14¢. Shares in the Toronto-based miner started declining Feb. 14, after it revealed it would need to secure more funds to stay in business this year. The company estimates it will need $20 million to fund working capital to continue its operations in 2014 and another $30 million to develop its Huston growth project.
“The company continues to deplete its existing mines and we do not believe it will be able to raise the capital required to develop new operations,” cautions Desjardins analyst Jackie Przybylowski. She has reduced her target to 25¢ from 30¢ previously.
The troubled miner posted an adjusted loss of 25¢ per share for the third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2013, missing the consensus estimate of a 14¢-per-share loss. It exited the year with a $7.6-million cash balance and working capital deficit of $27.1 million.
Detour Gold was the most actively traded stock, with 17.8 million changing hands. The gold miner named Paul Martin as its new president and CEO. Martin was the interim CEO since the company’s founder and previous CEO Gerald Panneton abruptly exited late last November. Detour also appointed James Mavor as its chief financial officer. The single-asset company operates the Detour Lake gold mine in northeastern Ontario. It closed the week at 20¢ apiece.
Agriculture nutrients giant Agrium was the top dollar gainer for the trading period, advancing $3.85 per share to $100.80. The Calgary-based firm posted adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of US$126 million, or US87¢ per share, slightly beating analyst estimates of US86¢. For 2013 the major reported earning of US$1.08 billion or US$7.31 per share, down from US$1.52 billion or US$9.67 per share in 2012.
TSX most active issues
| Volume | |||||||
| Company | Symbol | (000s) | High | Low | Close | Change | |
| Detour Gold | DGC | 17825 | 10.35 | 9.32 | 10.09 | + | 0.2 |
| B2Gold | BTO | 17052 | 3.23 | 2.97 | 3.18 | + | 0.13 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 15788 | 23.64 | 21.81 | 23.29 | + | 0.93 |
| Turquoise Hill | TRQ | 14600 | 4.04 | 3.56 | 4 | + | 0.44 |
| Goldcorp | G | 13947 | 31.18 | 29.44 | 30.67 | + | 0.35 |
| Rubicon Mnrls | RMX | 13804 | 1.95 | 1.45 | 1.51 | – | 0.27 |
| Torex Gold | TXG | 13709 | 1.27 | 1.12 | 1.25 | 0 | |
| Carpathian Gld | CPN | 13231 | 0.07 | 0.05 | 0.06 | – | 0.02 |
| Kinross Gold | K | 13160 | 5.98 | 5.51 | 5.82 | + | 0.1 |
| Osisko Mng | OSK | 12547 | 7.08 | 6.78 | 7.03 | + | 0.07 |
TSX greatest percentage change
| Volume | |||||||
| Company | Symbol | (000s) | High | Low | Close | Change | |
| Verde Potash | NPK | 1976 | 1.09 | 0.55 | 1 | + | 78.5 |
| Aura Mnls | ORA | 2675 | 0.18 | 0.12 | 0.18 | + | 50 |
| Western Potash | WPX | 3295 | 0.53 | 0.36 | 0.52 | + | 46.4 |
| Jayden Res | JDN | 27 | 0.15 | 0.11 | 0.15 | + | 42.8 |
| Cerro Grande M | CEG | 267 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.04 | + | 40 |
| Inspiration Mg | ISM | 164 | 0.12 | 0.1 | 0.11 | + | 29.4 |
| Oracle Mng | OMN | 84 | 0.25 | 0.2 | 0.24 | + | 27 |
| Hard Creek Ni | HNC | 70 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.05 | + | 25 |
| Baja Mng | BAJ | 3574 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.05 | + | 25 |
| Strateco Res | RSC | 1021 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.05 | + | 25 |
| Besra Gold | BEZ | 3587 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.03 | – | 33.3 |
| Labdr Iron Mns | LIM | 4496 | 0.18 | 0.13 | 0.14 | – | 27 |
| TVI Pacific | TVI | 95 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 | – | 25 |
| Polar Star Mng | PSR | 291 | 0.1 | 0.08 | 0.08 | – | 23.8 |
| Carpathian Gld | CPN | 13231 | 0.07 | 0.05 | 0.06 | – | 21.4 |
| Dejour Enterp | DEJ | 239 | 0.2 | 0.16 | 0.16 | – | 20 |
| Stockport Expl | SPT | 217 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.04 | – | 20 |
| EMC Metals | EMC | 231 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.02 | – | 20 |
| Coro Mining | COP | 183 | 0.17 | 0.13 | 0.14 | – | 17.6 |
| MDN Inc | MDN | 267 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.05 | – | 16.6 |
TSX greatest value change
| Company | Symbol | Change | Close | Change | |
| Agrium | AGU | 2063888 | 100.8 | + | 3.78 |
| Franco-Nevada | FNV | 1611140 | 58.51 | + | 1.5 |
| Russell Metals | RUS | 831144 | 30 | + | 1.39 |
| Pan Am Silver | PAA | 2075348 | 16.84 | + | 1.2 |
| Royal Gold | RGL | 42946 | 74.56 | + | 1.15 |
| Agnico-Eagle | AEM | 7124201 | 38.13 | + | 1.03 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 15788134 | 23.29 | + | 0.93 |
| Dominion Diam | DDC | 1166542 | 16.53 | + | 0.92 |
| Silver Wheaton | SLW | 6343101 | 28.74 | + | 0.86 |
| North Am En Pa | NOA | 1125786 | 7.35 | + | 0.63 |
| Labdr I-Ore Ro | LIF | 301811 | 32.16 | – | 0.76 |
| Horizns G Bear | HGD | 2527359 | 12.01 | – | 0.59 |
| Walter Energy | WLT | 42347 | 11.5 | – | 0.58 |
| Altius Mnrls | ALS | 74626 | 14.94 | – | 0.56 |
| Sherritt Intl | S | 12529366 | 2.93 | – | 0.5 |
| Teck Res B | TCKB | 8373314 | 25.77 | – | 0.48 |
| Alamos Gold | AGI | 3599557 | 11.04 | – | 0.43 |
| Virginia Mines | VGQ | 194867 | 12.86 | – | 0.43 |
| Cameco Corp | CCO | 5219409 | 23.53 | – | 0.31 |
| Rubicon Mnrls | RMX | 13803601 | 1.51 | – | 0.27 |
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