The volume leader among all the miners during the report period was Newmont Mining, which finally won control of both Normandy Mining and Franco-Nevada Mining, making it the the world’s largest gold miner. Newmont slipped 20 over the period to US$23.77.
Meanwhile, Newmont rival Gold Fields gave into second thoughts and let lapse an option it had granted to Harmony Gold to buy the St. Helena and Oryx mines in South Africa. Also, a second option granted by Harmony to Gold Fields to buy the former’s 9.8% stake in Auriongold (formerly Goldfields Limited of Australia) also lapsed. Over the period, Gold Fields fell 18 to US$8.10 while Harmony was up a penny to US$9.37.
The best performer in the precious metals sector was Coeur d’Alene Mines, which rose 5 to US$1.17 as it announced the discovery of two high-grade gold and silver vein systems, named Soledad East and the Andrea, respectively, at its Cerro Bayo property in southern Chile. Workers made the discovery while excavating the upper portion of an access ramp at the mine.
The rest of the sector declined: AngloGold stumbled 43 to US$22.96; Ashanti Goldfields was off 30 to US$4.40; Compania de Minas Buenaventura retreated 22 to US$24.32; and Stillwater Mining fell back 18 to US$15.62.
The performance of the remaining majors reflected renewed weakness in base metal prices: BHP Billiton dropped 20 to US$12; Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold‘s B shares were off 44 to US$14.92; Rio Tinto fell 50 to US$82.50 and Anglo American retreated 54 to US$17.30.
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