Toronto exchange roars back to life

Attracted by bargain prices, buyers outpaced sellers over the Oct. 9-15 report period to push the benchmark up 388.87 points. The TSX/S&P Composite Index finished the holiday-shortened week at 6,219.44, or 6.7% stronger.

Gold had a dismal time in London, sinking US$4.80 over the period to land at a morning fix of US$314 on Oct. 16. Canadian champ Barrick Gold took the hardest hit, falling 86 to $22.47 on a volume of 12.8 million shares.

Placer Dome, which slipped 7 to $13.30, countered with a ninth-round knockout of Australian miner AurionGold. Aurion’s board is now advising its shareholders to accept the offer, which has been extended until Oct. 1 to give the holdouts time to collect their last dividend.

Among the few gainers were Goldcorp, up 55 at $15.80, and Meridian Gold, 7 higher at $24.86. Rival Agnico-Eagle Mines was not so lucky, having fallen 57 by the period’s close.

Junior Thistle Mining eased back 4 to 39 despite announcing an 18% increase in reserves at its President Steyn mining complex in South Africa’s Free State. Reserves there stand at 17.6 million tonnes grading 5.6 grams gold per tonne.

Miramar Mining, also a junior producer, discovered a new gold zone at its advanced Hope Bay project in Nunavut. The discovery, which remains open at depth and along strike, lies between the Suluk and South Patch deposits. In spite of the news, Miramar slipped 4 over the period to finish at $1.25.

North American Palladium, Canada’s only primary producer of palladium, rose 20 to $6.25 despite announcing lower quarterly production. Countering the 18% shortfall in output was a US$3 rise in spot palladium and a US$12 rise in spot platinum. Platinum is produced as a byproduct at the company’s Lac des les palladium mine, near Thunder Bay, Ont.

Base metals had a better time than gold, with London markets pushing nickel up a dime and copper up a penny. As usual, lead and zinc remained unchanged.

Overall, the TSX’s Diversified Metals and Mining Index climbed 7.6 points, or 7%, to end the period at 115.49. Leading the pack was Inco, which rose $3.35 to $28.75 on a volume of 4.2 million shares, followed by cross-town rival Falconbridge, which rose $1.20 to $15.40 as nearly 1.3 million shares changed hands.

LionOre Mining International, up 26 to $3.60, has been given the thumbs-up for its purchase of the remaining 20% stake in LionOre Australia. The company is offering minority shareholders A85 per share, which an independent director of the subsidiary says is reasonable given that this is greater than the value attributed to them by KPMG Corporate Finance.

Partners FNX Mining and Dynatec each dropped in market value despite having deepened the near-surface North zone at their Norman property, near Sudbury, Ont. Drilling cut massive-sulphide veins down to a vertical depth of 165 metres, for about 183 metres of new down-plunge mineralization. FNX slipped a penny to $5.22 while Dynatec fell 7 to 68.