TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE – NOV. 25-DEC. 1

On Dec. 1, Canada’s benchmark S&P/TSX composite index experienced its worst one-day percentage fall since the crash of October 1987 — plunging 864.41 points, or 9.3%, to 8,406.21. The rout coincides with an emerging political crisis in Ottawa that threatens to dethrone Stephen Harper’s minority Conservative government, elected just two months ago, and replace it with an unlikely coalition between the Liberal and NDP parties, with support from the separatist Bloc Quebecois.

And as Canadians were left mystified about what government they will have in place a week from now to deal with the current financial crisis, more bad news emerged south of the border, with the National Bureau of Economic Research declaring that the United States has been in recession for almost a year. Overall, the composite index lost 36.65 points, or 0.44%, to close at 8,406.21 during the current Nov. 25-Dec. 1 trading session. By contrast, the Capped Metals and Mining index climbed 27.81 points, or 14.6%, to 217.84.

Uranium One was the most actively traded stock with 55.4 million shares changing hands. It closed the trading session up 22% to $1.20. The uranium producer, with assets in Kazakhstan, the U. S., South Africa and Australia, announced in an update on Dec. 1 that Citibank had agreed to increase its loan facility for the company’s Kyzylkum joint venture in Kazakhstan to US$90 million from US$30 million. The additional money will be used to fund the development of the JV’s Kharasan uranium project.

Bargain hunters may have been behind Teck’s 55 per share gain. The debt-ridden miner closed the trading session at $4.96 per share with 40.4 million shares traded. The company was trading as high as $52.90 per share as recently as May 21. Teck is currently sitting on about US$10 billion in debt.

Cash-strapped High River Gold Mines was another actively traded stock with 40.3 million shares traded. The miner has been plagued with cash-flow problems due to continuing production setbacks at two of its key mines. But on Nov. 21, Russian steel giant Severstal came to the rescue, taking a controlling interest in the Toronto-based gold producer. Severstal bought 282.3 million new High River shares at 20 apiece and 40.7 million warrants with a strike price of 64. High River has three operating mines in Russia and a fourth in Burkina Faso.

Sherritt International turned in the best performance of the trading session, rising $1.58 to close at $3.50 per share on news that it was revising its execution strategy to try to cut costs and control spending at its Ambatovy project in Madagascar. Sherritt and its partners, Sumitomo, Korea Resources Corp. and SNC-Lavalin Group are attempting to reduce costs through contract renegotiations of most material contracts. Sherritt will also pursue reductions through deferrals of capital spending and changes in “construction methodology.”

TSX most active issues
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Uranium One	UUU	55405	1.37	0.81	1.20	+ 0.22
Tiomin Res	TIO	52253	0.05	0.03	0.03	+ 0.01
Lundin Mng	LUN	48439	1.29	0.77	1.09	+ 0.14
Teck B	TCKB	40399	6.49	4.01	4.96	+ 0.55
High River Gol	HRG	40324	0.12	0.05	0.10	-0.01
Yamana Gold	YRI	35591	7.48	5.88	6.00	-0.42
Eastern Platin	ELR	24451	0.26	0.19	0.25	-0.01
Goldcorp	G	22772	35.00	28.84	29.15	-2.37
HoriznsGBull	HGU	21660	9.60	7.25	7.34	-0.93
KinrossGold	K	20972	19.00	16.12	16.97	-0.73

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Foraco Intl	FAR	26	1.00	0.46	0.99	+167.5
Redcorp Vent	RDV	7742	0.07	0.03	0.05	+150.0
Liberty Mines	LBE	2433	0.13	0.05	0.10	+150.0
Asbestos Corp	AB	17	0.26	0.10	0.26	+136.3
Imperial Metal	III	381	3.25	1.42	2.89	+104.9
Katanga Mng	KAT	3411	0.87	0.30	0.70	+100.0
Ursa Major Min	UMJ	112	0.08	0.03	0.08	+100.0
Pac NW Cap	PFN	316	0.08	0.05	0.08	+100.0
Anvil Mining	AVM	1586	1.20	0.51	1.09	+ 84.7
Sherritt Intl	S	19268	3.68	1.75	3.50	+ 82.2
Sierra Minls	SIM	69	0.11	0.07	0.08	-50.0
Golden Queen	GQM	123	0.20	0.13	0.15	-40.0
Anaconda Mng	ANX	736	0.12	0.07	0.09	-35.7
Africo Res	ARL	2356	0.70	0.47	0.50	-35.0
Gitennes Expl	GIT	562	0.06	0.04	0.04	-33.3
Cancor Mines	KCR	147	0.04	0.02	0.02	-33.3
Zincore Mtls	ZNC	4383	0.02	0.01	0.02	-33.3
Canadn Gld Hun	CGH	175	0.35	0.23	0.25	-32.4
Aquila Res	AQA	367	0.12	0.08	0.09	-30.7
Etruscan Res	EET	483	0.42	0.28	0.32	-30.4

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Sherritt Intl	S	19267576	3.50	+ 1.58
Imperial Metal	III	380538	2.89	+ 1.48
Faircourt Gold	FGX	29100	5.70	+ 1.43
Timminco	TIM	5091607	4.32	+ 1.13
Marklnd AGF PM	MPM	20600	5.11	+ 0.94
North Am En Pa	NOA	81321	3.76	+ 0.68
FNX Mining	FNX	3860063	3.00	+ 0.65
Agrium	AGU	7118021	34.45	+ 0.65
Ivanhoe Mines	IVN	4596746	2.97	+ 0.64
Foraco Intl	FAR	26086	0.99	+ 0.62
IShCOMEXGTr	IGT	46535	94.35	-5.65
Goldcorp	G	22771760	29.15	-2.37
Barrick Gold	ABX	19228051	32.65	-2.08
Royal Gold	RGL	10425	44.95	-2.06
Potash Cp Sask	POT	9541755	70.75	-1.94
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	5959156	39.97	-1.78
Detour Gold	DGC	423803	4.26	-1.34
First Quantum	FM	2870358	15.80	-1.20
Central Fund	CEFA	560967	11.38	-1.01
Central Gold-T	GTU_U	33096	39.22	-0.98