U.S. MARKETS -April 6-12

Encouraging employment news, accelerating activity in the services sector and the Federal Reserve’s ongoing pledge to keep interest rates historically low, helped maintain the upwards momentum in the U.S. markets, albeit, slightly.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 32.42 points over the April 6-12 trading period to close at 11,005.97. The S&P 500 index rose 9.04 points to close at 1,187.44 and the Nasdaq added 28.24 points to finish the period at 2,457.87 points.

Alcoa was the most actively traded stock yet again with 207.8 million shares traded. The stock fell US16¢ to close at US$14.57. The aluminum maker posted a first quarter loss that was narrower than expected at US$201 million (US20¢ per share) instead of US$260 million. The results also showed a marked improvement from the first quarter of 2009 when Alcoa reported a loss of US$497 million. The large loss was due to one-time charges related to closing two smelters and the U.S. health care reform, but the company noted that markets seem to be improving and the outlook for aluminum was positive.

An explosion at a West Virginia coal mine that killed 29 people on April 5 put Massey Energy shares in the no. 2 spot with 109.3 million shares traded. The stock was the top loser over the period, falling US$8.66 to close at US$46.03 apiece. Federal and state inspectors are now beginning an investigation into the explosion. Some investor groups are calling for the head of Massey Energy to resign, accusing the company of not valuing the safety of its employees.

Rio Tinto and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold were among the top losers over the period. Rio Tinto shares fell US$3.64 apiece to close at US4$242.58, while Freeport shares dropped US$2.93 to US$84.40.

Metalline Mining, which has a project in Coahuila, Mexico, saw its shares rise 22.6% over the trading period to US$1.46 apiece.

The company is soon holding a shareholder meeting to present several proposals including the approval of the issuance of its shares so it can complete a merger with Dome Ventures. Dome has gold, manganese and iron ore projects in Gabon, West Africa.

U.S. most active issues
	VOLUME		WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	207829	15.15	14.19	14.57	-0.16
Massey Energy* MEE	109348	50.48	44.50	46.03	-8.66
Freeport McMo*FCX	54812	88.30	84.02	84.40	-2.93
Barrick Gold* ABX	50732	41.85	39.28	40.76	+ 1.11
Hecla Mining* HL	48536	6.20	5.80	5.95	+ 0.05
Goldcorp* GG	40607	40.99	38.20	40.06	+ 1.31
Newmont Mng* NEM	35109	54.82	53.10	53.55	-0.26
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	34392	48.63	45.62	48.01	+ 1.99
Consol Energy* CNX	33933	46.94	44.00	46.26	+ 0.99
Arch Coal* ACI	33041	26.57	24.26	26.12	+ 1.63

U.S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	53	0.04	0.03	0.04	+ 33.3
Tombstone Exp*	TMBXF	1013	0.14	0.11	0.14	+ 27.2
Silver Dragon*	SDRG	763	0.36	0.27	0.35	+ 25.0
Metalline Mng*	MMG	283	1.59	1.18	1.46	+ 22.6
Almaden Mnls*	AAU	1932	1.22	0.99	1.18	+ 20.4
Minera Andes*	MNEAF	1754	1.12	0.93	1.10	+ 18.2
Exeter Res*	XRA	932	8.30	6.59	7.86	+ 18.0
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	347	0.36	0.26	0.34	+ 17.2
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	92	0.64	0.53	0.62	+ 16.9
Caledonia Mng*	CALVF	2440	0.08	0.06	0.07	+ 16.6
Tri-Valley*	TIV	7398	1.94	1.31	1.31	-39.0
El Capitan Pr*	ECPN	3395	0.64	0.25	0.40	-33.3
Affinity Gold*	AFYG	822	0.33	0.16	0.21	-30.0
Elray Res*	ELRA	621	0.25	0.15	0.16	-20.0
Crystallex In*	KRY	2926	0.49	0.38	0.39	-18.7
Massey Energy*	MEE	109348	50.48	44.50	46.03	-15.8
America West*	AWSR	73	0.13	0.12	0.12	-14.2
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	39	0.12	0.10	0.12	-14.2
Mesabi Trust*	MSB	1526	27.22	22.14	23.50	-10.2
Strata O&G*	SOIGF	270	0.40	0.35	0.36	-10.0

U.S. greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
ASA (Bermuda)*	ASA	181817	81.58	+ 3.66
Seabridge Gld*	SA	2946388	28.20	+ 2.38
AlumCpChina*	ACH	982200	28.58	+ 2.14
Agnico-Eagle*	AEM	12475936	60.39	+ 2.02
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	34392119	48.01	+ 1.99
Arch Coal*	ACI	33040606	26.12	+ 1.63
Eldorado Gold*	EGO	4319000	14.00	+ 1.40
Goldcorp*	GG	40606945	40.06	+ 1.31
Ivanhoe Mines*	IVN	10253448	18.55	+ 1.26
Royal Gold*	RGLD	3289475	51.33	+ 1.25
Massey Energy*	MEE	109348402	46.03	-8.66
Rio Tinto*	RTP	2926648	242.58	-3.64
Fr eeport McMo*	FCX	54812130	84.40	-2.93
Mesabi Trust*	MSB	1525953	23.50	-2.69
Agrium*	AGU	1678500	68.35	-2.56
Compass Mnls*	CMP	479900	77.84	-2.38
Potash C Sask*	POT	29583399	114.21	-1.50
Mosaic*	MOS	19129405	56.75	-1.24
BHP Billi-BHP*	BHP	16452372	81.82	-1.04
BHP Billi-BBL*	BBL	6507666	69.95	-0.95