Franco, Normandy rise to the occasion, again

The biggest news over the Jan. 16-22 report period was the withdrawal of South African AngloGold from a battle with U.S. miner Newmont Mining for control of Normandy Mining.

The 3-month-old war ended Jan. 18, with AngloGold’s acquiring little more than 7% of the Aussie producer. This is slightly more than what it had been a week earlier, when its offer was originally scheduled to expire, but still less than the exemption level from Australia’s compulsory acquisition rules. Accordingly, the shares were sold.

In response, Normandy shares shot up 50 to finish the period at $17. Similarly, Franco-Nevada Mining, which has agreed to be taken over by Newmont so long as it acquires 50.1% of Normandy, jumped 30 to $26.15. Franco was the most actively traded issue in eastern markets, while Newmont took the spotlight south of the border.

In stark contrast, physical gold withered $6.35 over the five trading days to be fixed at US$281.60 per oz. on the morning of Jan. 23. The loss all but erases gains made in the previous period, when the Bank of England announced that its latest gold auction was 1.4 times oversubscribed.

As usual, Canada’s major producers shadowed the yellow metal: Barrick Gold fell 68 to $27.02 and Placer Dome slipped 15 to $19.20. Kinross Gold finished the period unscathed at $1.40.

Campbell Resources rose six pennies to 45 as it privately raised $14.3 million in order to resume commercial production at the Joe Mann gold mine in Quebec. Concurrently, the junior sold its interest in the Santa Gertrudis gold project in Mexico to Queenstake Resources. Queenstake, which is listed on the Canadian Venture Exchange, climbed a nickel to 18.

Palladium dipped below the US$400 level to drag Canada’s only primary producer of that metal down with it. North American Palladium sank 58 to $8.92, which is just over half the issue’s 52-week high of $17.15. The company’s market value has followed palladium’s steady depreciation from last year’s record high of US$1,094 per oz.

Base metal producers were mixed: Teck Cominco‘s B-series climbed 15 to $13.30; Falconbridge dropped a dime to $16.30; Noranda rose 12 to $15.37; and Inco slipped 3 to $26.82. Cameco suffered the heaviest loss, tanking 82 to $37.93.

Among juniors, Pure Gold Minerals was the most active, climbing 13 to 30 on a volume of 10.6 million shares. The company intends to raise $2 million through an equity financing. Proceeds are earmarked for ongoing diamond exploration in Canada.

Print


 

Republish this article

Be the first to comment on "Franco, Normandy rise to the occasion, again"

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*


By continuing to browse you agree to our use of cookies. To learn more, click more information

Dear user, please be aware that we use cookies to help users navigate our website content and to help us understand how we can improve the user experience. If you have ideas for how we can improve our services, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to email us. By continuing to browse you agree to our use of cookies. Please see our Privacy & Cookie Usage Policy to learn more.

Close