MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — U.S. markets — Three-way merger excites market

The Dow Jones industrial average hit an all-time high during the report period ended Aug. 24, climbing 166.22 points, or 1.55%, to 11,283.30 on expectations that the Federal Reserve Board will boost interest rates.

However, mergers again dominated the week’s trading as the mania spread from aluminum to the copper industry. New York Stock Exchange-listed Phelps Dodge proposed a 3-way merger with Asarco and Cyprus Amax Minerals.

All responded with heavy trading volumes, as Asarco jumped $3.81 to close at US$22.62, setting a new high for the year. Cyprus raced up $3.62 to US$17.81, also with a new high. Even Phelps Dodge climbed higher, adding 63 cents to close at US$59.81.

Asarco’s 54%-held subsidiary, Southern Peru Copper, benefited from the merger proposal, rising $2.13 to close at US$15.94.

All was not good news in the gold sector, as the British government set the date for its next 25-tonne auction for Sept. 21. Accordingly, the spot price for the yellow metal plunged $8.60 to US$253.50 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

South Africa’s Anglogold lost $1.68 to close at US$24.88, while Newmont Mining shed 94 cents to finish the week at US$19.50; Ashanti Goldfields tumbled 74 cents to US$6.88; Homestake Mining dropped 50 cents to US$8.31; and Battle Mountain Gold edged closer to a new low, falling 13 cents to US$1.81.

Platinum-producer Stillwater Mining slipped $1.12 to close at US$22.50, while Rio Tinto fell $6.38 to finish the week at US$74.50.