U.S. Markets -December 1-7

Fallout from the Dubai debt crisis kept markets choppy during the Dec. 1-7 reporting period. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 81.47 points to 10,390.11 and the S&P 500 index dropped 5.61 points to 1,103.25. Bucking the downward trend was the Nasdaq, which finished 13.8 points higher at 2,189.61.

In New York, the spot price for gold fell US$38.40 from its close of US$1,196 per oz. on Dec. 1 to US$1,157.60 on Dec. 7, and gold indexes weren’t far behind. The Amex Gold Bugs index lost 39.36 points to close at 461.19 and the Philadelphia Gold and Silver index dropped 13.76 points to finish at 178.97.

International Royalty leapt 60.2% or US$2.53 per share to US$6.73 on news that gold-focused royalty company Franco-Nevada is making an all-cash offer for the company of C$6.75 per share, a bid that represents a 54% premium.

Silver Standard Resources, meanwhile, surged US$2.22 per share to US$23.83 on a double whammy of good news. First, its Pirquitas gold mine in northern Argentina moved into commercial production in the first week of December. At full production, the mine will produce an average of about 10 million oz. of silver and 2,500 tonnes of tin a year, making it one of the largest primary silver mines in the world. The company also significantly upgraded resources at its Snowfield and Brucejack gold-silver-copper projects in northern British Columbia.

It was a mixed week for Barrick Gold. On Dec. 1, the gold major announced that it had completed the elimination of its hedge book, but then bad news followed from Nevada.

On Dec. 4, Barrick revealed that an appeals court is ordering additional environmental assessments of its Cortez Hills gold project, on three fronts: transport and treatment of refractory ore, mitigation plans to dewater the Cortez Hill mine and the effect of particulate emissions. It was also left up to the district court to decide whether Barrick will have to stop mining at Cortez Hills in the interim while the additional environmental studies are completed. The stock closed US25¢ lower at US$42.44 per share.

U.S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s) HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	177015 13.74	12.64	13.05	+ 0.53
Barrick Gold* ABX	124605 48.02	40.91	42.44	-0.25
Hecla Mining* HL	120660 7.47	6.31	6.67	+ 0.06
Freeport McMo*FCX	69647 86.00	78.27	78.69	-4.11
Goldcorp* GG	68088 46.24	40.67	41.33	-0.67
Silverado* SLGLF	65431 0.01	0.01	0.01	0.00
Kinross Gold* KGC	59788 22.46	19.73	20.00	-0.02
Silver Wheatn* SLW	56815 17.45	15.22	15.85	-0.22
Newmont Mng* NEM	55104 56.45	50.61	51.83	-1.71
Potash C Sask* POT	48982 123.86	114.28	121.17	+ 8.75

U.S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Tornado Gold*	TOGI	186	0.02	0.01	0.02	+100.0
Intl Royalty*	ROY	8004	6.79	4.05	6.73	+ 60.2
Amazon Goldsd*	AZNG	18	0.25	0.16	0.25	+ 56.2
Elray Res*	ELRA	387	0.38	0.19	0.31	+ 55.0
Almaden Mnls*	AAU	6117	1.34	0.76	1.09	+ 45.3
America West*	AWSR	750	0.12	0.07	0.10	+ 42.8
Crystallex In*	KRY	17153	0.44	0.30	0.39	+ 39.2
Alberta Star *	ASXSF	1568	0.25	0.17	0.20	+ 25.0
Petaquilla Mn*	PTQMF	3604	0.85	0.57	0.67	+ 24.0
US Antimony*	UAMY	24	0.47	0.38	0.47	+ 23.6
Yellowcake Mg*	YCKM	61	0.05	0.04	0.04	-20.0
Global Gold*	GBGD	537	0.19	0.14	0.15	-16.6
Tri-Valley*	TIV	636	2.19	1.70	1.80	-16.2
Kimber Res*	KBX	3362	1.76	1.17	1.30	-16.1
Pediment Gold*	PEZGF	638	1.66	1.25	1.34	-14.1
Cornerstone C*	CTNXF	57	0.14	0.13	0.13	-13.3
Tombstone Exp*	TMBXF	204	0.07	0.06	0.07	-12.5
Uranium Star*	URST	693	0.51	0.40	0.43	-12.2
Dejour Enterp*	DEJ	81	0.42	0.34	0.36	-12.2
Argentex Mng*	AGXM	1065	0.85	0.75	0.75	-10.7

U.S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Potash C Sask* POT	48981792	121.17	+ 8.75
Mosaic* MOS	42746989	59.94	+ 5.49
Agrium* AGU	3975200	60.31	+ 4.45
Rio Tinto* RTP	3984604	207.41	+ 3.31
Intl Royalty* ROY	8004183	6.73	+ 2.53
Cameco Corp* CCJ	12989360	31.09	+ 2.29
Silver Std Re* SSRI	11626371	23.83	+ 2.22
Cabot Corp* CBT	3048239	24.81	+ 1.88
Seabridge Gld* SA	2365137	26.69	+ 1.48
Yanzhou Coal* YZC	1407743	20.88	+ 0.79
Freeport McMo* FCX	69647315	78.69	-4.11
Royal Gold* RGLD	4574646	51.16	-2.66
Buenaventura* BVN	10565951	37.54	-2.61
Randgold Res* GOLD	10767753	82.34	-2.40
ASA (Bermuda)* ASA	477843	77.21	-2.34
CONSOL Energy* CNX	13782208	43.68	-2.24
Cl iffs Nat Rs* CLF	23561314	41.88	-2.18
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	25734298	42.42	-2.04
CoeurdAlene* CDE	23673110	20.82	-1.99
Lihir Gold* LIHR	2567352	30.92	-1.90