Toronto Stock Exchange Nov. 14-20

A slide in the price of oil early in week pulled the S&P-TSX Composite Index lower, but a rally in the price of nickel and gold helped fuel a comeback as it finished the Nov. 14-20 period up 107.23 points at 12,416.63.

The US$2 gain in the price of gold wasn’t enough to erase the gold index’s early week losses. The index was off 5% to 301.27 despite the price of the yellow metal reaching US$625.50 per oz.

The metals and mining index was off slightly, down 2.24 points as silver, platinum, copper and nickel made gains, while palladium and zinc fell and the price of lead remained flat at 69 per lb.

Paladin Resources was the most actively traded stock for the period. The company finished the period up 30 at $5.65 on trading volume of roughly 50 million shares. On Nov. 14, the company announced the Namibian government set the country’s uranium royalty at 2-3% less than the 5% used in Paladin’s feasibility study for its Langer Heinrich uranium mine. Langer Heinrich was commissioned in September with commercial production expected to begin by the end of the year.

Goldcorp was the next most popular miner, trading roughly 27 million shares but falling nearly $2.00 to $29.98. The company announced a decline in earnings per share for the third quarter — down from 17 per share for the same period last year to 14. Goldcorp also announced changes to its board as a consequence of its acquisition of Glamis Gold. Former president and chief executive of Goldcorp, Ian Telfer, will become chairman, while Glamis president and chief executive, Kevin McArthur, will maintain that position with Goldcorp.

LionOre Mining International saw its shares fall 45 to $9.52 on roughly 18 million shares. The Toronto-based company announced the sale of non-strategic nickel exploration properties to Australian-based Kagara Zinc for US$19 million.

Heavy storms in B.C. wiped out a bridge used by Breakwater Resources to get materials in and out of its Myra Falls operations. Operations were suspended due to the bridge collapse, but the company’s shares held steady, gaining 3 to $1.73 on nearly 19 million shares.

Tahera Diamond managed to regain some share value for the period. The company’s stock has been on a steady decline since March, with poorer-than-expected diamond grades and operational problems at its Jericho diamond mine, in Nunavut, exerting the downward pressure. But a Nov. 15 announcement that Teck Cominco is buying $30 million worth of the company’s shares and warrants pushed Tahera’s stock up nearly 33% to $1.34.

The big loser of the period was Skye Resources, with shares in the Vancouver-based company plunging nearly 30% to settle at $12.00. The company announced that it had failed to find a merger partner or buyer and would instead go it alone at its Fenix nickel project in Guatemala.

TSX greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
SouthernEra wt	SDM.WT	35	0.10	0.06	0.10	+42.8
Western Areas	WSA	18	4.50	4.00	4.05	+37.2
Ascendant C wt	ACX.WT	57	0.20	0.15	0.20	+33.3
Tahera Diam	TAH	12223	1.41	1.01	1.34	+32.6
Ascendant Copp	ACX	34	0.99	0.78	0.99	+32.0
Aquiline Res	AQI	1788	6.89	5.53	6.89	+25.2
South Am Gld&C	SAG	7494	0.055	0.035	0.05	+25.0
Nuinsco Res	NWI	12629	0.70	0.485	0.70	+20.6
Wallbridge Mng	WM	770	0.36	0.25	0.33	+20.0
Augusta Res	AZC	1164	2.31	1.93	2.29	+17.4
Northgate M wt	NGX.WT	1228	0.53	0.29	0.35	-37.5
Skye Res	SKR	6349	13.85	11.10	12.00	-29.8
Northgate wtA	NGX.WT.A	278	0.50	0.28	0.35	-28.5
Ontex Res	ONT	20	0.12	0.11	0.11	-21.4
Queenstake Rs	QRL	9000	0.305	0.255	0.255	-20.3
Glencairn G wt	GGG.WT	398	0.24	0.20	0.20	-20.0
Western Goldfd	WGI	338	1.90	1.48	1.49	-18.5
Grande Cache C	GCE	2794	1.03	0.85	0.87	-17.9
Golden Str wtA	GSC.WT.A	27	0.29	0.21	0.21	-16.0
Cline Mng	CMK	600	0.415	0.34	0.35	-15.6

TSX greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Potash Cp Sask	POT	1536855	158.40	+5.96
Fording C C T	FDG.UN	1861432	23.67	+2.01
Inmet Mining	IMN	2190365	54.77	+1.67
Aquiline Res	AQI	1787922	6.89	+1.39
Fronteer Dev G	FRG	2166395	10.52	+1.32
Denison Mines	DEN	1328068	24.05	+1.15
Western Areas	WSA	17570	4.05	+1.10
Aur Res	AUR	5295721	20.56	+1.07
Denison Mn wt	DEN.WT	27215	11.50	+0.75
Globex Mng	GMX	180430	5.90	+0.65
Skye Res	SKR	6349031	12.00	-5.10
Teck Comin B	TCK.B	8289092	79.56	-2.46
Goldcorp	G	27479355	29.98	-1.995
Teck Comin A	TCK.A	12099	83.65	-1.55
First Quantum	FM	3645474	55.62	-1.41
Silvercorp Mtl	SVM	598538	14.50	-1.38
Newmont Mng	NMC	312788	50.42	-1.36
Alamos Gold	AGI	4179169	9.36	-1.35
Major Drilling	MDI	515357	21.76	-1.23
Silver Wheaton	SLW	10091065	12.25	-1.14

TSX most active issues

14763

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Paladin Res	PDN	50262	5.85	4.90	5.65	+0.30
Goldcorp	G	27479	32.66	29.52	29.98	-1.995
Bema Gold	BGO	23005	6.17	5.61	5.62	-0.48
Breakwater Res	BWR	18792	1.75	1.55	1.73	+0.03
LionOre Mng In	LIM	18399	10.05	8.82	9.52	-0.45
Equinox Minls	EQN	18281	1.92	1.70	1.89	+0.07
Eastern Platin	ELR	16599	1.27	1.10	1.19	+0.04
Coalcorp Mng	CCJ	16470	0.58	0.50	0.51	-0.04
Kinross Gold	K	14.15	12.90	12.96	-1.01
Barrick Gold	ABX	14475	33.86	32.12	32.54	-1.03