Market news: U.S. Markets

U.S. equity markets in the first four days of the week turned positive on optimism lawmakers could avert the fiscal cliff. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 176.71 points, or 1.35% to 13,311.72; the S&P 500 Index climbed 30.11 points, or 2.13%, to 1,443.69; and Nasdaq was up 79.06 points, or 2.66%, at 3,050.39. But the buoyant mood shifted after markets closed on Dec. 20, when House Republican leaders cancelled a planned vote on a tax-cut bill because they said they didn’t have enough votes for it to pass. By Dec. 21, U.S. equities had slid on the news.

For the trading period, shares of Cameco were up US$1.40, or 7.2%, to US$20.83. The Saskatchewan-based uranium producer announced on Dec. 18 that it had completed its acquisition of the Yeelirrie uranium project in Western Australia for US$430 million. Yeelirrie is one of Australia’s largest undeveloped uranium deposits, sitting 650 km northeast of Perth and 750 km south of Cameco’s Kintyre exploration project. Cameco, one of the world’s largest uranium producers, bought Yeelirrie from BHP Billiton and has received the approvals it needs for the acquisition from the government of Western Australia and the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board. Yeelirrie is a near-surface, calcrete-style deposit, amenable to open-pit mining.

Shares of Timberline Resources, which is exploring advanced-stage gold properties in the Western U.S., plunged 43% to US20¢ per share after management announced a 5-million-share equity financing at US20¢ apiece. The offering’s proceeds will be used to explore the company’s flagship Lookout Mountain project in Nevada, and for its pipeline of earlier-stage projects on its South Eureka property and elsewhere. The proceeds will also be used for working capital and acquisitions. The junior holds a 50% carried interest in the Butte Highlands joint-venture in Montana, where gold production is expected to start in mid-2013.

Allied Nevada Gold announced on Dec. 17 that it had received approval from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection to build a 130,000-ton-per-day mill at Hycroft. The markets appeared unimpressed, however, and shares fell US$1.20 to US$29.05.

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