Toronto Stock Exchange April 11-17

Concerns over inflation, interest rates and upcoming earnings reports saw the Toronto Stock Exchange crawl 19.32 points higher to end the holiday-shortened April 11-17 report period at 12,309.02. The gold index shrugged off those worries to advance 3% to 321.07 points, with gold jumping another US$17.25 to US$614.50 in New York on April 17. Likewise, the diversified miners advanced another 2% to 498.50 points, particularly powered by surging copper and zinc prices.

Drilling on the Mina Justa deposit at its 70%-owned Marcona copper project in Peru sent shares in Chariot Resources soaring 10.5, or 22%, to 57 on an unusually high 60.1 million shares. The company’s warrants nearly doubled to 29. The holes are highlighted by a 100-metre section running 5.35% copper, including 42 metres of 10.54% copper.

Tahera Diamond was next, falling a penny to 60 on around 55.6 million shares. A planned 1-for-5 share consolidation will be put to shareholders on May 15. Tahera’s 835 million fully diluted outstanding shares have been on the slide since mid-March, when the early closure of a seasonal ice road saw only 60% of 450 planned truckloads of supplies reach the Jericho diamond mine.

Equinox Minerals leapt 38, or 25%, to a new 52-week high of $1.90 on the back of surging copper prices. The company’s Lumwana copper project in Zambia is expected to annually produce 180,000 tonnes of copper during its first five years.

Northgate Minerals jumped 88, or 28%, to a new high of $4.04 after drilling cut 7.62 metres running 8.38 grams gold on the Young-Davidson property in Ontario. The company’s warrants were also running about double their previous close.

Leading the percentage losers was Idaho-based WGI Heavy Minerals, which shed 26, or 22%, to 90. Strathcona Mineral Services has withdrawn its reserve and resource estimate for the company’s Srikurmam heavy mineral sands project in India, as WGI deals with several licensing and regulatory issues. The area containing the resource has been trimmed from 95 hectares to 10 hectares, owing to environmental regulations.

Others on the slide were: Band-Ore Resources, off 18% to 36; Moydow Mines International, down 18% to 27.5; Sterlite Gold, which fell 17% to a dime; and Grandview Gold, 15% cheaper at $1.65.

Band-Ore suffered some profit taking after tabling plans to merge and split assets with Venture Exchange-listed Sydney Resource. Moydow is working to complete its own merger with Diamond Fields International. The Ontario Securities Commission placed a cease-trade order on Sterlite’s management, as it is late in filing its 2005 financial statements. Grandview shares debuted at $2.00 on the TSX on April 5. The company is in the midst of a deep-drilling program on the Pony Creek project on Nevada’s Carlin trend.

TSX greatest percentage change

		Volume(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Northgate M wt	NGX.WT	6501	1.18	0.57	1.18	+107.0
Northgate wtA	NGX.WT.A	1712	1.18	0.57	1.16	+93.3
Chariot Res wt	CHD.WT	6243	0.31	0.13	0.29	+93.3
New Gold wt	NGD.WT	163	3.99	2.43	3.81	+52.4
Frontera Cp wt	FCC.WT	701	1.65	0.96	1.45	+42.1
Ontex Res	ONT	23	0.29	0.185	0.29	+38.1
Pure Gld Mnr	PUG	12690	0.085	0.06	0.08	+33.3
Euro Res	EUR	358	3.95	2.10	2.70	+33.0
Ascendant C wt	ACX.WT	13	0.37	0.37	0.37	+32.1
Northgate Mnls	NGX	15930	4.07	3.16	4.04	+27.8
WGI Heavy Mnl	WG	180	1.14	0.90	0.90	-22.4
Band-Ore Res	BAN	321	0.43	0.345	0.36	-18.1
Moydow Mns Int	MOY	191	0.34	0.275	0.275	-17.9
Sterlite Gold	SGD	336	0.125	0.08	0.10	-16.6
Grandview Gld	GVX	134	1.94	1.60	1.65	-14.9
Eastern Pla wt	ELR.WT	36	0.45	0.40	0.40	-11.1
Globex Mng	GMX	179	5.26	4.50	4.70	-10.6
Gateway Gold	GTQ	560	1.82	1.63	1.63	-10.4
Eastern Platin	ELR	947	1.45	1.30	1.32	-10.2
Pine Valley Mg	PVM	133	1.83	1.60	1.60	-10.1

TSX greatest value change

		Volume	Close	Change
Newmont Mng	NMC	374163	64.07	+3.15
Centerra Gold	CG	247985	42.52	+3.04
Inco Ltd	N	5133931	63.89	+3.03
Boliden AB	BLS	22573	21.10	+2.80
Cameco Corp	CCO	3198624	45.65	+2.50
Inco wt	N.WT	39549	34.01	+2.32
First Quantum	FM	1365842	51.92	+2.225
Falconbridge	FAL.LV	8768682	44.50	+2.22
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	3154538	38.65	+2.03
Pan Am Silv wt	PAA.WT	26738	18.43	+1.93
Potash Cp Sask	POT	1055069	99.46	-5.855
Teck Comin B	TEK.SVB	3643432	82.74	-3.15
Major Drilling	MDI	273997	27.15	-1.19
FNX Mining	FNX	1482476	13.30	-0.88
Endeav Mng Cap	EDV	447958	8.25	-0.70
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF.UN	105979	29.51	-0.58
Globex Mng	GMX	178782	4.70	-0.56
Southwstrn Res	SWG	499222	13.42	-0.42
Shore Gold	SGF	2078853	6.50	-0.40
Denison Mines	DEN	812135	14.90	-0.39

TSX most active issues

		Volume(000s)	High	Low	Close	Change
Chariot Res	CHD	60908	0.65	0.425	0.57	+0.105
Tahera Diam	TAH	55584	0.61	0.495	0.60	-0.02
Equinox Minls	EQN	35083	1.92	1.50	1.90	+0.38
EuroZinc Mng	EZM	26308	2.64	2.28	2.59	+0.16
Bema Gold	BGO	18571	5.62	5.19	5.62	+0.18
Yamana Gold	YRI	18558	12.80	11.42	12.68	+0.02
Cambior Inc	CBJ	17943	4.53	4.20	4.47	+0.19
Eldorado Gold	ELD	16084	5.87	5.43	5.78	+0.18
Northgate Mnls	NGX	15930	4.07	3.1 6	4.04	+0.88
Pure Gld Mnr	PUG	12690	0.085	0.06	0.08	+0.02