Heavy losses in the mining sector weighed down the S&P-TSX Composite Index over the Oct. 21-27 trading period. Any signs that the worst had passed were quickly erased as the index plummeted 16.7% to 8,537 points, despite proactive moves by banks around the world to ease liquidity and restore faith in the credit markets.
The Capped Metals and Mining Index plunged 30% to about 291 points, while the Global Gold Index lost 28% of its value to close the period at 157 points.
The top loser by value was Agnico-Eagle Mines, down nearly $20 to $27.50 per share. Agnico reached a new 52-week low of $26.60 mid-week, down from a high last March of $82.80. A former vice-president of corporate affairs was convicted of insider trading in 2004 during the session.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan shares fell $15.65 to $81.80, despite posting third-quarter earnings that were greater than all of 2007 put together. Potash Corp. earned $2.24 billion, up from $243.1 million in the third quarter last year. Although the price of its stock has dropped considerably, the company believes the fundamentals of the fertilizer market are strong and wants to expand through acquisition during the downturn. Fertilizer producer Agrium also fell significantly, down $10.57 to $35 per share.
Fording Canadian Coal Trust was one of the top gainers over the period, up $4.13 per share to $99.35. Teckannounced it would complete the purchase of Fording’s remaining coal assets on Oct. 30. Teck has offered US$12.4 billion in cash and about 36.9 million class B subordinate voting shares. Teck was the second-most actively traded stock over the period with 35.4 million shares changing hands. The stock fell $7.99 to $10.76 per share. The company earned $432 million in the third quarter, down $72 million from the second quarter. The loss was blamed on the 40% drop in copper prices to about US$1.94 per lb. and a 26% decline in zinc to US51 per lb.
Cardero Resource was also a top gainer, up 36 to $1.86 per share. China’s Nanjinzhao Group offered the junior US$200 million for its Pampa de Pongo iron deposit in Peru.
First Majestic Silver saw silver production fall 34% over the third quarter. Heavy rain caused thousands of tonnes of rock slurry to slide down the slopes of the San Martin mine, 250 km north of Guadalajara, Mexico, blocking three of four entrances and an access bridge. Production was 20% lower in the third quarter compared to the previous period, with 840,000 silver-equivalent oz. produced. Shares fell 48 to 92 apiece.
Etruscan Resources shares fell 12 over the period to 48 after briefly recovering to 51 on news that rare earth elements had been discovered in Namibia. The rare earth occurrence was found on its Lofdal property, where it has been exploring for copper, silver and gold. The company plans to test the occurrence further.
| TSX most active issues | ||||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | |||||
| (000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Yamana Gold | YRI | 39460 | 6.15 | 4.29 | 4.75 | -1.27 |
| Teck B | TCKB | 35407 | 18.24 | 10.76 | 10.76 | -7.99 |
| KinrossGold | K | 34133 | 13.78 | 8.96 | 10.01 | -4.27 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 31931 | 30.68 | 22.00 | 22.51 | -9.82 |
| Goldcorp | G | 29262 | 26.14 | 17.77 | 18.75 | -8.00 |
| Breakwater Res | BWR | 26281 | 0.12 | 0.09 | 0.09 | -0.02 |
| Campbell Res | CCH | 25222 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.00 |
| HoriznsGBull | HGU | 23320 | 8.01 | 3.90 | 4.38 | -3.43 |
| Eastern Platin | ELR | 22806 | 0.61 | 0.37 | 0.38 | -0.21 |
| Blue Note Mng | BN | 21546 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.00 |
| TSX greatest percentage change | ||||||
| VOLUME | WEEK | |||||
| (000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Birch Mountn | BMD | 325 | 0.08 | 0.04 | 0.05 | +150.0 |
| African Copper | ACU | 2684 | 0.07 | 0.05 | 0.06 | + 50.0 |
| Horizns G Bear | HGD | 3738 | 21.01 | 11.81 | 18.25 | + 41.2 |
| Pure Diam Expl | PUG | 1040 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.04 | + 33.3 |
| Canarc Res | CCM | 101 | 0.10 | 0.08 | 0.10 | + 25.0 |
| Cardero Res | CDU | 1568 | 2.18 | 1.20 | 1.86 | + 24.0 |
| Richview Res | RVR | 50 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.06 | + 20.0 |
| Talon Metals | TLO | 20 | 0.30 | 0.30 | 0.30 | + 20.0 |
| Strateco Res | RSC | 1562 | 0.69 | 0.49 | 0.52 | + 15.5 |
| Acadian Mng | ADA | 1203 | 0.12 | 0.06 | 0.09 | + 12.5 |
| Silver Wtn wtA | SLW_TA | 14 | 0.90 | 0.11 | 0.11 | -81.6 |
| Teal Expl & Mg | TL | 996 | 0.75 | 0.18 | 0.22 | -66.6 |
| Asbestos Corp | AB | 20 | 0.15 | 0.05 | 0.10 | -66.6 |
| Ivernia | IVW | 3184 | 0.17 | 0.07 | 0.07 | -58.8 |
| First Metals | FMA | 1528 | 0.12 | 0.05 | 0.05 | -58.3 |
| New Gold | NGD | 12836 | 2.49 | 1.06 | 1.06 | -57.6 |
| Guyana Gldflds | GUY | 1906 | 1.99 | 0.80 | 0.86 | -55.4 |
| Opawica Expl | OPW | 245 | 0.25 | 0.10 | 0.13 | -53.5 |
| Aquiline Res | AQI | 1575 | 1.80 | 0.78 | 0.80 | -52.9 |
| Arehada Mining | AHD | 42 | 0.10 | 0.05 | 0.05 | -50.0 |
| TSX greatest value change | ||||
| WEEK | ||||
| VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Horizns G Bear | HGD | 3738094 | 18.25 | + 5.33 |
| Fording C C T | FDG_U | 18098126 | 99.35 | + 4.13 |
| CentralGold-T | GTU_U | 50039 | 39.60 | + 1.93 |
| Cardero Res | CDU | 1567836 | 1.86 | + 0.36 |
| Strateco Res | RSC | 1561606 | 0.52 | + 0.07 |
| Kimber Res | KBR | 58946 | 0.77 | + 0.05 |
| Talon Metals | TLO | 20000 | 0.30 | + 0.05 |
| Uranium Partic | U | 3478069 | 5.09 | + 0.05 |
| Golden Peaks | GL | 100050 | 0.50 | + 0.04 |
| Copper Mtn Mng | CUM | 23700 | 0.53 | + 0.03 |
| Agnico-Eagle | AEM | 8592759 | 27.50 | -19.56 |
| Potash Cp Sask | POT | 15309325 | 81.80 | -15.65 |
| Agrium | AGU | 8400392 | 35.00 | -10.57 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 31931386 | 22.51 | -9.82 |
| First Quantum | FM | 4826017 | 20.00 | -8.83 |
| Goldcorp | G | 29262408 | 18.75 | -8.00 |
| Teck B | TCKB | 35407003 | 10.76 | -7.99 |
| Newmont Mng | NMC | 223853 | 28.14 | -7.95 |
| Royal Gold | RGL | 24502 | 29.87 | -7.11 |
| Inmet Mining | IMN | 1657919 | 24.09 | -5.15 |
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