Dow Jones and S&P 500 end lower, June 13-17

The U.S. Federal Reserve held rates steady ahead of Britain voting on whether to leave or stay in the European Union. The central bank’s decision was supported by 277,000 weekly jobless claims — a little higher than expectations of 270,000. On a brighter note, retail sales in May rose 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1% to 17,675.16 and the S&P 500 Index dropped 1.2% to 2,071.22. The Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index lost 0.1%, falling to 90.34.

Shares of Rio Tinto jumped US$1.25 to US$29.19. The company reported on June 14 that as part of its plan to lower gross debt, it had accepted for purchase a total of US$1.7 billion in debt pursuant to its any-and-all offer from June 7–13.

McEwen Mining was up 12.5% to US$3.32 per share. On June 16 the company reported it had become an insider of Golden Predator Mining Corp., after Golden Predator cancelled 10.3 million of its common shares. Before that, McEwen Mining had acquired, for investment purposes, 3.125 units of Golden Predator in a private placement. (The company bought the units at 16¢ for a total $500,000. Each unit was made up of one common share and one warrant to buy one common share at a 21¢ exercise price before May 24, 2018.) After the announcement, McEwen Mining owns 5.8% of Golden Predator, and 11% if it exercises its warrants.

Primero Mining’s shares were up 7% to US$1.99 on news of acquiring a mineral concession next to its San Dimas mine in Durango, Mexico. The company added 301.9 sq. km between the San Dimas mine and its Ventanas exploration property, 32 km to the south. The newly acquired concession is not covered by the San Dimas silver-purchase agreement with Silver Wheaton, and brings the company’s concession area in the district to 686.3 sq. km. Primero says the new greenfield property is largely unexplored, but “displays similar geological characteristics as found on both the San Dimas and Ventanas properties.”

Eldorado Gold announced that it had renewed its revolving credit facility to strengthen its balance sheet, sending shares down 6.5% to US$4.17. The agreement includes US$250 million in credit, a US$100-million accordion feature and a term extension to June 13, 2020, from Nov. 23, 2016.