MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS – U.S. MARKETS — Producers under siege

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 105.56 points during the report period ended Dec. 8, closing at 9,027.98.

Copper and silver issues early in the week fell in line with dropping oil prices, hitting numerous metal producers for heavy, sometimes record, losses.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures hit an 11-year-low of 67 cents per lb. Leading the downward spiral was Phelps Dodge, which dropped $2.50 to US$53.88. New York Stock Exchange-listed Asarco followed suit, losing $2.25 to close at US$16.94. The company also announced plans to shut its copper refinery in El Paso, Tex.

Cyprus Amax Minerals dropped 94 cents to US$10.25, while Australia’s Broken Hill Proprietary slipped a buck to US$14.62. Class A and B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold lost $1.13 and $1.12, respectively, to close at US$11.25 and US$11.94.

Silver prices slid to as low as US$4.72 during the week. Hardest hit was American Stock Exchange-listed Apex Silver Mines, which was down a dollar at US$8.

Gold issues fared little better during the week, as virtually all the majors recorded a loss. Newmont Mining shed $1.75 to close at US$18.19. Shares of Homestake Mining slipped $1.25 to finish the week at US$9.69. American Depository Receipts for South Africa’s Anglogold dropped $2.44 to US$19.56 despite the company’s US$550-million purchase of Minorco’s gold interests. Ghana’s Ashanti Goldfields tumbled 69 cents to close at US$8.31, while Battle Mountain Gold slipped 56 cents to close at US$4.19.