Gold weighs down TSX

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P TSX Composite Index slipped 15.8 points to end the March 16-21 report period at 9,693.5. The nation’s gold miners led the way lower with an 8.42-point, or 4%, fall to 201.49. Not surprisingly, gold finished US$7.95 lower at US$432.70 per oz. in the afternoon in London on March 21. Meanwhile, the base metal miners managed to gain 4.05 points to reach 321.77.

Noranda was the most actively traded mining stock, edging 15 higher to $24.90 with more than 14 million shares changing hands. The shares have been on the rise because of higher commodity prices and Noranda’s announcement that it intends to buy the 40% Falconbridge it does not already own. Falco saw less action but managed to add 95 to reach $44.76.

Shares in Queenstake Resources continued lower in the wake of the resignation of CEO Chris Davie, owing to health reasons. The shares fell another 3 to 27, a penny off its 52-week low.

A delay in the release of Kinross Gold‘s 2004 financial statement shaved 35 off the company’s share price. Canada’s third-largest gold miner says the delay will allow for a review of the valuations placed on the assets inherited via its merger with TVX Gold and Echo Bay Mines in 2002. The shares finished at $7.72.

Barrick Gold fell $1.11 to $29.71. It said a recent court order to settle a lawsuit filed by coin and bullion dealer Blanchard & Co. in late 2002 was normal procedure, according to Reuters. Blanchard has accused Barrick and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. of colluding to rig the gold price and monopolize bullion trading.

Placer Dome rounded out the gold trio with a 74 drop to $20.52. The company has begun an US$11-million, 20,000-metre program of infill drilling on the Donlin Creek gold project in Alaska. Placer has a 30% stake in the project, with NovaGold Resources holding the remainder. The major can boost its stake to 70%. For its part, NovaGold slipped 26 to $10.44.

Also on the slide was X-Cal Resources, which finished a dime, or 23%, cheaper, at 34. A recently updated technical report of the company’s Mill Creek gold property on the Battle Mountain trend in the Cortez area of Nevada suggests the geologic setting is favourable as a host for sediment-hosted gold deposits, and that further work is warranted.

Cameco ended $4.56, or nearly 9%, better at $57.01. A new toll-conversion agreement with British Nuclear Fuels will see the Saskatchewan-based giant’s annual hexafluoride production capacity boosted by about 40% to 18,000 tonnes. The company has also reached a tentative deal with the Ontario government to restart two reactors at the Bruce Power site in Ontario; Cameco owns a 31.6% interest in the plants.

Uranium explorer UEX advanced 38, or 16%, to $2.76; Denison Mines ended $2.12, or 13%, richer at $18.80; and International Uranium rose 44, or around 8%, to $5.77. IUC has begun processing uranium-bearing waste material at its White Mesa mill in southeastern Utah. In all, the company has four sources of waste lined up, enough to produce 550,000 lbs. of yellowcake. The company is also completing a US$1-million deal to add two uranium properties adjoining its nearby Henry Mountain complex.