Broad market rebounds but resource stocks mixed

Recouping over a quarter of the loss reported for the previous period, the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 index climbed 216.19 points between April 5 and April 11 to end the week at 9,358.03, or 2% higher.

The gold and precious metals sub-group gained a modest 20.24 points to end the week at 4,219.61. Gold, on the other hand, dropped $2.85 to trade at a London fix of US$280.25 per oz. on the morning of April 12.

Canada’s major producers of the yellow metal all lost ground: Barrick Gold dropped 30 to $24.30; Placer Dome dropped 55 to $11.50; and Kinross Gold slipped 12 to $1.98. Going the opposite way were Cameco, up $2.35 to $17.50, and Franco-Nevada Mining, up $1 to $17.

Dayton Mining jumped $1.56 to $1.66, reflecting a 1-for-20 share consolidation on April 11. The consolidation leaves the company with 27 million shares outstanding and followed its successful acquisition of Mirage Resources and a 49% stake in the Denton-Rawhide gold-silver mine in Nevada. Dayton slipped 14 on April 12.

Pulled down by slumping base metal prices, the metals and minerals sub-group dropped 30.66 points to 3,541.73. Nickel took the biggest pounding on the London Metals Exchange, diving 8 to US$4.46 per lb., followed by copper, which was off 2 at US76 per lb. Lead remained at par, while zinc managed to rise 3 to US53 per lb. Zinc benefited from dwindling LME warehouse stocks and a halt in production at Belgian-based Union Minire’s Balen smelter in northern Belgium, owing to a labour dispute.

Following in nickel’s path, Falconbridge dove $1.85 to $19.50 and Inco plunged 80 to $25.35. Bucking the trend was Sherritt International, which rose 44 to $3.79.

Rio Algom rose 20 to $16.20, whereas Aur Resources shed 4 to end the week at $1.61. Both produce copper, as well as other base metals.

Junior Band-Ore Resources edged ahead 2 to 87 on a volume of 357,600 shares. On April 11, the junior announced the discovery of another three macrodiamonds and 48 microdiamonds at the GQ diamond property, near Wawa, Ont., bringing to 200 the number of stones picked in a 100-sq.-metre area. Stripping and sampling are planned for another 30 targets, elsewhere on the property. Band-Ore can earn a 100% interest in GQ by issuing 500,000 shares and paying $1.2 million over the next three years.

Greystar Resources plunged 21 to $1.14, only to fall another 12 on April 12. The loss marks a 45% reduction in the junior’s market value since March 10, when it announced a switch to e-commerce opportunities in China and other Asian countries. However, Greystar noted that it would continue exploring the Angostura gold-silver project in Colombia, where resources are pegged at 9.3 million tonnes grading 6 grams gold and 11.4 grams silver per tonne, based on a cutoff grade of 3 grams.