U.S. Markets tumble as investor fears persist, Aug. 15-19

Anxiety overtook investors on Wall Street as the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its fourth week of losses during the Aug. 15-19 trading period.

The index tumbled 451.37 points to end at 10,817.65 amid persisting worries of a double-dip recession, a weak global economic growth and Europe’s debt crisis.

The S&P 500 Index fell 55.28 points to 1,123.53 and the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 166.14 points to 3,241.84. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index rose 3.89 points to 210.44. The price of gold gained US$106.80 over the week to end up US$1,853.10 per oz.

Rangold Resources for the third week was the biggest value gainer, adding US$9.24 to close at US$109.99.  

Shares of Agnico-Eagle Mines gained US$3.04 to US$65.57, while Buenaventura rose US$2.69 to US$44.37, on no recent news. The latest news that Buenaventura released was on Aug. 8, saying it received permits from the government to start operations at its 40%-owned Tantahuatay gold project in Peru. Tantahuatay is expected to produce 100,000 oz. gold per year.

Discovery of a new gold zone at the Seabee gold mine in Saskatchewan helped propel Claude Resources up 16.2% to US$1.86 on 2.5 million shares traded. Highlights from the ongoing drill program that discovered the new zone, which is now called L62, include: 10 metres grading 6.90 grams gold per tonne, including 0.7 metre of 50 grams gold; 4.9 metres of 8.81 grams gold; and 4.8 metres of 5.33 grams. All grades are cut and represent true widths.

The week’s biggest percentage loser was Caledonia Mining following news Zimbabwe’s indigenization minister asked the Minister of Mines to cancel the company’s operating licence at its Blanket gold mine. The company says it was told that its indigenization proposal did not meet requirements, and is seeking clarification from the ministers. It shares plunged 30% to US7¢.

On Aug. 15, Kinross Gold announced a US$1-billion offering of debt securities. The offering is expected to close on Aug. 22, and should generate net proceeds of about US$986 million. Kinross plans to put that cash towards general corporate purposes.

A day later, Kinross said it was giving US$1 million in funding for a three-year endowment that would be used to train mining engineering students at the University of Alaska. Kinross moved up US$1.19 to US$16.79 on 39.6 million shares traded.