A week of highs and lows

The week of May 12-May 18 saw a lot of ups and downs on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The spot price for gold in London on the afternoon of May 18 closed at US$377.70 per oz., up US$2.45 from the previous week. The S&P-TSX composite index closed on an upswing, at 8162.69 points, but down 42.37 points from the previous week. The TSX gold index closed up 6.84 points, or 3%, to finish the day at 191.53 points. The diversified metals and mining index closed at 201.08, up 3.6% but down 0.11 of a point from a week earlier.

Wheaton River Minerals led the way in volume, trading 16.9 million shares. The stock closed at $3.58, up 2 from the previous week. On June 8, shareholders vote on a proposed merger with Iamgold in a $2.2-billion all-share bid that would result in the creation of a new gold major, to be called Axiom Gold Corp.

Tahera traded 15.9 million shares to close at 26, down 5. Tahera hopes to receive approval from the minister of Indian affairs and northern development regarding development of its Jericho kimberlite in the Northwest Territories.

Gabriel Resources traded 7.5 million shares and closed down 46 at $1.87. The shares fell following an announcement that the company would delay construction of its Rosia Montana gold-silver project in Romania. Resettlement and relocation of the Rosia Montana village and construction of new town sites are taking longer than expected. Environmental permitting is also proving slow.

Meridian Gold traded 3.1 million shares to close at $16.60, up $2.60. The company reported that higher gold prices and lower cash costs boosted first-quarter earnings by $1.3 million.

Bema Gold traded 888,778 shares to close at $3.55, up 29 on the week. The junior reported a first-quarter loss of US$14.2 million, which included a writedown of US$8.5 million on the sale of the Yarnell property in Arizona.

Alcan made the news on several fronts. First, it confirmed that the Australian government has legislated away its rights to the Aurukun bauxite reserves in the northern portion of Queensland. Then, Alcan announced it is considering joining forces with rival Alcoa to build a 1.5-million-tonne-per-year alumina refinery in Guinea, West Africa. A day later, the aluminum giant said it had sold the aluminum aerosol can producer Boxal Group, along with part of Alcan Packaging, to private Dutch company Exal Holdings. Alcan also unveiled plans to spin off practically all its rolled products businesses. The new aluminum rolled products company will be the largest in the world, with revenue of $6.4 billion. Alcan will not retain a stake in the enterprise. the major closed at $53.18, down $1.05 from the previous week, on a volume of 6.7 million shares, but up $1,89 from the close on May 17.

Queenstake Resources closed at 49, down 7, as 8.6 million shares changed hands. The company announced changes to its board of directors, and the number of shares reserved for issuance was increased to 30 million. Stock options at an exercise price of US38 were granted to certain officers and directors.

America Mineral Fields announced its name has changed to Adastra Minerals, though, until further notice, the trading symbol remains AMZ.