Benchmark lowered again, golds end mixed

Sellers outpaced buyers over the Sept. 18-24 report period, pushing the S&P/TSX Composite Index down 235.91 points. The benchmark finished the week at 6,068.89.

The golds swam against the broader market’s current, gaining 4.14 points to end the period at 203.14 points. The gain was partly spurred by a rally in gold, which was fixed in London at US$326.30 per oz. on the morning of Sept. 25, for a gain of US$7.60.

Placer Dome, which was the most active of the producers, dropped 20 to $16.10. The major expects to record a third-quarter loss of US$7 million on its half-interest in the Porgera mine in Papua New Guinea. Production has been halted since mid-July, and vandals recently damaged more power poles 75 km southwest of the mine. Also, Placer announced a seventh extension to its bid for AurionGold, its 25% partner at Porgera, of which it now owns 42%. The deal carries a deadline of Oct. 2.

Kinross Gold came next in terms of volume traded, rising 15 to $3.74 as more than 18 million shares changed hands. Kinross and Bema Gold, co-owners of Compania Minera Maricunga, received a US$24-million award settlement from Fluor Daniel Chile Ingenieria y Construccion, Fluor Daniel, and Fluor Daniel Wright. The award relates to design and construction failures at the Refugio mine in northern Chile. Bema shares advanced 8 to $2.23.

Meanwhile, Barrick Gold scraped together $1.61 to end the period at $28.70.

Uranium miner Denison Energy shed 20, at $2.41, after a federal court quashed the original operating licence for its 22.5%-owned McClean Lake uranium facility in Saskatchewan. The court ruled that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission did not have the jurisdiction to issue the licence and that the project requires a new assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Denison plans to appeal the ruling and request a stay of the decision.

Base metals fared poorly in London bullion markets, with nickel and copper slumping and lead and zinc staying put. Nickel fell US6 to land at a morning fix of US$2.93 per lb. on Sept. 25, while copper slipped a penny to US66 per lb.

Inco led the producers in the most active department, falling $2 to $24.30 on a volume of roughly 4.79 million shares. Next came Teck Cominco, whose B-series shares crashed 50 to $10.1 as 3.2 million shares changed hands.

Among other producers, Cameco, which also mines uranium in Saskatchewan. but holds no stake in McClean Lake, tanked $2.45 to $26.35, while Falconbridge sank $1.09 to $14.60. Meanwhile, Noranda fell 78 to $15.17 and Sherritt International slipped 51 to $4.20. Ivanhoe Mines was one of the few gainers, rising two pennies to $3.30 on news of having cut 638 metres of 1.61% copper and 0.07 gram gold per tonne at its Turquoise Hill project in Mongolia.