Merger news in the gold sector and strong earnings from two of the big banks helped the TSX Composite Index fight through a mid-week slump over the holiday-shortened Aug.29-Sept. 1 period. The index wound up down just 22.25 points overall at 12,145.10.
Mergers in the gold sector helped the gold index outpace the upswing in the price of the yellow metal. The index climbed nearly 4% to 319.64, ahead of the price of gold, which was up roughly 1.6% or US$10 to US$626.75 per oz. for the period.
The diversified miners didn’t fare as well as their gold mining cousins. The index remained relatively flat, as it shed 1 point to 561.33. While the price of nickel came back down to US$14.37 per lb. after a scorching run, copper, lead and zinc were all up for the period — if only slightly.
The big news of the week was the US$8.6-billion Goldcorp and Glamis Gold merger announcement. Not surprisingly, the news sent Goldcorp shares to the top of the most-active list, and Glamis shares to the top of the value-gained list. Nearly 40 million Goldcorp shares were traded, but the stock fell $2.83 in value to $30.26 apiece. Glamis shares gained $8.13 to $50.50 on roughly 19 million shares traded. The proposed deal met some opposition — most notably from Goldcorp founder and retired chief executive, Rob McEwen, for being overly dilutive. The new company, to be called Goldcorp, would be the country’s second-largest gold miner behind Barrick Gold.
The Goldcorp news fuelled speculation that more big name mergers could soon follow, with Bema Gold and Kinross Gold getting lots of mention. Bema was the second-most active for the period, trading over 26 million shares and gaining 48 to $6.12. Kinross traded nearly 20 million shares and was up 94 to $15.79.
Nuinsco Resources was the biggest gainer by percentage, up roughly 33% to 40 on no news. The Toronto-based company is a multi-commodity mineral exploration junior with projects in Canada and Turkey.
Ur-Energy was the second-largest gainer for the period by percentage, with takeover speculation being seen as the main driver. The Denver, Colo.-based company issued a release on Sept. 1 addressing intense market activity around its stock, saying it has had preliminary discussions with several companies, but nothing has progressed beyond that point. The company says it has the funding to get projects into production by late 2008.
BrazMin was the biggest loser by percentage for the period, although the Rio de Janeiro-based company was rebounding some at presstime. The company had lost 23% for the period but was up 8% to 93 after announcing results from its 100%-owned So Jorge gold project in Brazil. The results put resource estimates at 5 million tonnes grading 1.19 grams gold for 191,000 total oz. — numbers which BrazMin chief executive Tony Ransom admitted were “disappointing,” given historical data on the zone.
TSX greatest percentage change
| VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Nuinsco Res | NWI | 2107 | 0.40 | 0.29 | 0.40 | +33.3 |
| Ur-Energy | URE | 5608 | 2.97 | 2.22 | 2.91 | +29.3 |
| WGI Heavy Mnl | WG | 32 | 0.90 | 0.70 | 0.90 | +28.5 |
| Cardero Res | CDU | 202 | 2.14 | 1.71 | 2.12 | +24.7 |
| Exall Res | EXL | 2655 | 2.81 | 2.15 | 2.70 | +23.2 |
| Crescent Gold | CRA | 191 | 0.345 | 0.29 | 0.34 | +21.4 |
| StrataGold | SGV | 1074 | 1.20 | 0.96 | 1.20 | +20.0 |
| Blue Pearl wt | BLE.WT | 155 | 3.25 | 2.46 | 3.17 | +19.1 |
| Glamis Gold | GLG | 18858 | 52.50 | 41.49 | 50.50 | +19.1 |
| Minefinders | MFL | 733 | 11.07 | 9.15 | 11.07 | +19.0 |
| BrazMin | BZM | 433 | 1.14 | 0.78 | 0.86 | -23.2 |
| Pure Gld Mnr | PUG | 6264 | 0.08 | 0.065 | 0.065 | -18.7 |
| Eurasia Gold | EGX | 81 | 1.85 | 1.50 | 1.50 | -16.2 |
| Opawica Expl | OPW | 1941 | 0.13 | 0.105 | 0.105 | -16.0 |
| Brazilian Diam | BDY | 15 | 0.24 | 0.19 | 0.195 | -15.2 |
| Amerigo Res | ARG | 996 | 2.29 | 1.80 | 1.95 | -13.3 |
| First Nickel | FNI | 3165 | 0.435 | 0.36 | 0.38 | -12.6 |
| Hillsborough | HLB | 302 | 0.88 | 0.76 | 0.77 | -12.5 |
| Golden Str wtA | GSC.WT.A | 37 | 0.58 | 0.50 | 0.55 | -11.2 |
| Orezone Res | OZN | 383 | 1.81 | 1.65 | 1.65 | -10.3 |
TSX greatest value change
| VOLUME | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Glamis Gold | GLG | 18857717 | 50.50 | +8.13 |
| First Quantum | FM | 1584494 | 63.05 | +3.65 |
| Agnico-Eagle | AEM | 5168670 | 42.76 | +3.54 |
| Silver Std Res | SSO | 285675 | 28.57 | +3.37 |
| Agnico-Eag wt* | AEM.WT.U | 18550 | 21.30 | +2.90 |
| Meridian Gold | MNG | 2740453 | 32.90 | +2.73 |
| Cameco Corp | CCO | 5133096 | 46.16 | +2.49 |
| Pan Am Silver | PAA | 997845 | 25.43 | +2.21 |
| Dundee Bancrp | DBC.A | 157149 | 45.40 | +1.90 |
| Minefinders | MFL | 733012 | 11.07 | +1.77 |
| Goldcorp | G | 38300554 | 30.26 | -2.83 |
| Teck Comin B | TCK.B | 4663747 | 74.49 | -1.67 |
| Potash Cp Sask | POT | 1043010 | 107.72 | -1.27 |
| Newmont Mng | NMC | 243565 | 56.53 | -0.70 |
| Fording C C T | FDG.UN | 519172 | 33.50 | -0.62 |
| Alcan | AL | 5320954 | 50.35 | -0.57 |
| Central Gold-T | GTU.UN | 21720 | 25.25 | -0.55 |
| FNX Mining | FNX | 1234226 | 12.95 | -0.36 |
| Uranium Partic | U | 1443173 | 9.05 | -0.35 |
| Sherritt Intl | S | 1162629 | 10.60 | -0.34 |
TSX most active issues
| VOLUME(000s) | HIGH | LOW | CLOSE | CHANGE | ||
| Goldcorp | G | 38301 | 33.95 | 29.75 | 30.26 | -2.83 |
| Bema Gold | BGO | 26437 | 6.16 | 5.45 | 6.12 | +0.48 |
| EuroZinc Mng | EZM | 20929 | 3.30 | 3.06 | 3.12 | -0.15 |
| Kinross Gold | K | 19614 | 15.98 | 14.34 | 15.79 | +0.94 |
| Glamis Gold | GLG | 18858 | 52.50 | 41.49 | 50.50 | +8.13 |
| Equinox Minls | EQN | 11342 | 1.78 | 1.50 | 1.76 | +0.23 |
| Barrick Gold | ABX | 10859 | 37.49 | 35.88 | 36.90 | +0.65 |
| Yamana Gold | YRI | 10533 | 11.62 | 10.60 | 11.56 | +0.58 |
| Eldorado Gold | ELD | 10257 | 5.50 | 4.98 | 5.39 | +0.29 |
| Inco Ltd | N | 8828 | 86.19 | 85.60 | 85.86 | -0.24 |
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