Toronto Stock Exchange february 21-27

The Toronto Stock Exchange retreated 159.29 points to 11,706.47 during the five trading days ended Feb. 27. The gold index fell 4% to 265.39 as the underlying commodity shed US$1.25 to US$553.25. The base metal crowd performed similarly to end at 425.42 points; nickel and copper stood with gains during the week. Fittingly, lead prices fell the hardest, off 4.3%, while zinc gained 5.4%.

A friendly, $574-million bid from Yamana Gold saw shares in Desert Sun Mining rise $1.15, or 25% , to $6.05 on more than 44 million shares. The company’s warrants shot 37% higher to $3.70. Yamana finished 70 better at $10.20 on 21.6 million shares.

A forecast of higher costs sent Bema Gold a dime lower to $4.68 with just shy of 32 million shares on the go. Gold production for 2006 is expected to climb to around 381,000 oz.; likewise, total cash costs are projected to be higher at around US$356 per oz.

Junior Chariot Resources put in a rare appearance on the TSX most-traded miner list, gaining a nickel to make 43 on nearly 22 million shares. Chariot’s charge was powered by some high-grade copper intersections from the Mina Justa deposit at its 70%-owned Marcona copper project in Peru. Chariot’s warrants soared 65% to 14.

Returning to merger news, Glamis Gold has inked a $1.2-billion deal to acquire Western Silver. Glamis fell $2.67 to $31.80, while Western Silver jumped $4.88, or 26%, to $23.34.

Up an order of magnitude, the $12.8-billion merger of Inco and Falconbridge is facing more scrutiny in Europe, as regulators there said they would take a closer look at serious competition concerns Inco’s acquisition of Falco would create in certain nickel and cobalt markets. The second-phase review could take up to 90 business days. The U.S. Department of Justice is expected to hand down its verdict within two months.

Other impressive percentage gainers were: Zaruma Resources, up 40% to 14; Apollo Gold, rocketing 34% higher to 67; Alexco Resources, 30% better at $2.15; Asia Pacific Resources, 28.5% to the good at 13.5; Gateway Gold, 28.4% higher at $1.49; and Minefinders, which rose by 21.5% to $9.24.

Zaruma plans to use $990,000 from a planned private placement to upgrade resources at the Luz del Cobre copper project in Mexico to National Instrument (NI) 43-101 standards. Apollo’s drills recently pulled a 7.8-ft. section running 3.2 oz. gold per ton from the Black Fox project near Timmins, Ont.; a NI 43-101-compliant reserve estimate is due by quarter’s end. The Yukon Supreme Court recently approved Alexco’s plan to acquire the United Keno Hill project. Gateway has pegged its Big Springs project in Nevada with an initial resource estimate of 592,000 contained ounces. Finally, a bankable feasibility study of Minefinders’ Dolores gold-silver property in Mexico indicates that a proposed US$131.6-million operation would generate a rate of return of 24.3%.

TSX greatest percentage change

VOLUME (000s)

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		HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Tribute Minls	TBM	10572	0.43	0.11	0.35	+218.1
Cantex Mn Dev	CD	12332	0.165	0.08	0.165	+83.3
Becker Gold M	BGD	65	0.20	0.135	0.20	+81.8
Carpathian Gld	CPN	3955	0.31	0.165	0.285	+78.1
Sacre-Coeur Ml	SCM	1502	2.75	1.65	2.65	+76.6
Augyva Mng	AUV	695	0.26	0.14	0.24	+71.4
Staccato Gold	CAT	7901	1.37	0.84	1.37	+71.2
Golden Band	GBN	5029	0.48	0.255	0.46	+67.2
Sanu Res	SNU	292	0.75	0.42	0.71	+65.1
Cangold	CLD	5332	0.135	0.08	0.13	+62.5
Anaconda Gold	ANX	799	0.82	0.45	0.50	-39.0
Contact Expl	CEX	258	2.75	1.82	1.98	-28.0
Bravo Vent	BVG	1544	1.05	0.73	0.77	-27.3
Newport Expl	NWX	66	0.205	0.17	0.17	-26.0
Waseco Res	WRI	1387	0.27	0.185	0.19	-25.4
Cons Gd Thun R	GHG	17	0.155	0.15	0.15	-25.0
Senator Minls	SNR	116	0.16	0.14	0.14	-22.2
MBA Gold	MBA	62	0.16	0.125	0.125	-21.8
Citadel Gold	CGM.H	532	0.315	0.22	0.25	-20.6
Au Martinique	AUU	136	0.25	0.19	0.20	-20.0

TSX greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Western Silver	WTC	16027441	23.34	+4.88
Potash Cp Sask	POT	1284155	108.92	+3.23
Minefinders	MFL	3236887	9.24	+1.64
Silvercorp Mtl	SVM	1586980	10.00	+1.50
Russell Metals	RUS	1881248	25.75	+1.35
Gammon Lk Res	GAM	3278229	18.37	+1.20
Desert Sun Mg	DSM	44062164	6.05	+1.15
Desert Sun wt	DSM.WT	5312215	3.70	+1.00
Viceroy Expl	VYE	3592850	6.62	+0.79
Yamana Gold	YRI	21591019	10.20	+0.70
Inco wt	N.WT	32145	25.45	-3.90
Teck Comin B	TEK.SVB	3566203	70.00	-3.76
Inco Ltd	N	5729831	55.25	-3.55
Royal Gold	RGL	20292	36.77	-3.48
Newmont Mng	NMC	380964	62.46	-3.44
Alcan	AL	5027070	49.77	-3.40
First Quantum	FM	1382310	35.25	-2.85
Glamis Gold	GLG	20557612	31.80	-2.67
Cameco Corp	CCO	7228585	41.55	-2.50
Centerra Gold	CG	204068	35.60	-2.20

TSX most active issues

		VOLUME (000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Cantex Mn Dev	CD	12332	0.165	0.08	0.165	+0.075
Tribute Minls	TBM	10572	0.43	0.11	0.35	+0.24
Staccato Gold	CAT	7901	1.37	0.84	1.37	+0.57
Arctic Star Di	ADD	6492	0.29	0.185	0.255	+0.045
Coalcorp Mng	CCJ	6319	0.66	0.60	0.61	-0.04
Typhoon Expl	TOO	5644	0.72	0.465	0.62	+0.15
Yukon Zinc	YZC	5578	0.55	0.50	0.52	0.00
Cangold	CLD	5332	0.135	0.08	0.13	+0.05
Golden Band	GBN	5029	0.48	0.255	0.46	+0.185
Redhawk Res	RDK	4335	0.67	0.54	0.57	-0.06