U.S. markets gain momentum during June 26-30 trading week 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 692.9 points or 2% to 34,407.6 and the S&P 500 gained 121.6 points or 2.8% to 4,450.4 during the June 26-30 trading week. 

Franco-Nevada led the mining sector’s top value gainers this week, closing US$3.45 higher on Friday at US$142.60 per share. Franco-Nevada secured a further 1.5% net smelter return royalty (NSR) on Marathon Gold’s Valentine project for $45 million in early June. The acquisition lifts its NSR in the project to 3%. The Toronto-based firm has also offered to purchase Marathon’s common shares comprising the entire back end of a $6.9-million non-brokered flow-through offering. A feasibility study on Valentine in December outlined an open pit mining and conventional milling operation with annual production of 195,000 oz. of gold for 12 years. The total mine life for the project, located in Newfoundland, is 14.3 years. 

Intrepid Potash was the week’s top percentage gainer, adding 7.9% to close Friday at US$22.69 per share. On June 21, Intrepid announced the completion of the US$16-million first phase of its HB injection pipeline project near Carlsbad, N.M. The company mines potash from idled original mine workings by injecting brine underground, then pumping the ore to surface. With the first phase now complete, injection rates can theoretically reach up to 7,570.8 litres of brine per minute, a nearly threefold increase compared to the average injection rate of approximately 2,650 litres per minute observed in the previous five years. The project team is now ready for phase two, where they anticipate maintaining an average injection rate of about 4,164 litres per minute. This rate is estimated to be about 55% higher than the injection rates recorded before the start of the project. 

Vale remained one of the top traded issues on the NYSE, seeing more than 87 million shares change hands during the week. The company’s shares lost US28¢ to close at US$13.42 each.  Bloomberg reported on June 20 that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) was leading a bid to acquire a US$2.5-billion stake in Vale’s nickel and copper operations. The report said PIF might strike the deal for a roughly 10% stake through a joint venture it set up in January with state miner Ma’aden. The wealth fund is poised to beat out rival bidders, including Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. and the Qatar Investment Authority, but it may take at least several weeks to hash out a formal agreement, Bloomberg’s sources said.