Stillwater mauled

The biggest news of the period under review was Noril’sk Nickel’s move to acquire a majority interest in troubled U.S. palladium-platinum producer Stillwater Mining for a combination of cash and physical palladium. Stillwater shareholders reacted either by stampeding for the exits or complaining loudly that management was selling out at too low a price. Stillwater shares nosedived 23% over the period to US$5.76.

Meanwhile Gold Fields dropped another 55 to US$10.70 as it withdrew a proposed share offering that would have raised money for debt reduction, as well as the development of its Tarkwa gold mine in Ghana and its Arctic Platinum joint venture with Finland’s Outokumpu.

The rest of the U.S.-listed gold majors were mostly down as gold failed repeatedly to sustain momentum above the US$320-per-oz. mark: Newmont Mining crept up only 4 to US$23.70; AngloGold tumbled $1.86 to US$26.62; Durban Deep was down 18 to US$3.17; Ashanti Goldfields declined 7 to US$5.24; and Harmony Gold sank $1.61 to close at US$13 on its last day of Nasdaq trading before moving up to the Big Board.

Among the U.S. silver miners, Coeur d’Alene Mines slipped 21 to US$1.46 as it filed paperwork for the offering of shares valued at up to US$125 million.

Base metal miners were mixed: Alcoa advanced $1.96 to US$24.50; Anglo American fell 40 to US$13.50; BHP Billiton was down 11 to US$10.67; Rio Tinto declined US$1.32 to US$76.48; Phelps Dodge dropped 20 to US$28.70 after the previous week’s 12% collapse; CVRD rebounded $1.03 to US$26.48; Freeport-McMoRan jumped $1.03 to US$14.77; and OM Group rebounded $1.19 off a multi-year low to hit US$5.75 on heavy volume.