Toronto Stock Exchange March 27-April 2

Despite a slight drop, the TSX Composite Index continued to show strength over the March 27-April 2 trading period as it stayed in striking distance of its all-time high of 13,404, set in February. The Index fell 37.08 points, ending the week at 13,265.80.

Higher prices for oil and natural gas, which pushed the energy sector up nearly 3%, held the index up; tensions in the Middle East drove the price of oil to its highest close in seven months.

But lower prices for gold brought the Global Gold Index down 2.9 points to 311.41, as the yellow metal fell roughly US$5 to US$658.25 per oz.

The Capped Metals & Mining Index also came down, if only slightly. The index was down roughly five points to 693.47 as tin and zinc prices fell while copper, aluminum, nickel and lead all made marginal gains.

News that Xstrata is looking to get bigger via acquisitions, yet again, made its target — Canada’s largest nickel producer LionOre Mining International — the most actively traded stock for the period. LionOre shares fell 14 to $19.15 on roughly 42 million shares traded after the $4.6-billion friendly takeover was announced.

The other big news for the period came from Venezuela. Gold Reserve and Crystallex International saw their share prices surge after Gold Reserve announced it had received clearance from Venezuelan authorities to begin developing the Brisas gold-copper deposit in the country’s southeast. Crystallex, which has long awaited the environmental permit it needs to begin developing its Las Cristinas project, also in southeastern Venezuela, rallied after making an oft-repeated statement that it expects to receive the necessary permits soon.

Tiomin Resources was the biggest gainer by percentage amongst the miners. The company announced that its much-maligned Kwale mineral sands project in Kenya is getting a healthy injection of cash from Chinese mining giant Jinchuan. Jinchuan is the largest producer of nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals in China, and is buying roughly 72 million Tiomin shares at 15 apiece to give it a 20% stake in the company. The deal adds nearly $11 million in cash to Tiomin’s kitty, bringing it to $32 million.

Molybdenum’s position as the market’s latest buzz metal helped send Moly Mines up 23% to $3.55 for the period. The company, with molybdenum assets in Australia, announced a private-placement financing that would help it raise $22.5 million to accelerate development of its Spinifex Ridge project and capitalize on the metal’s popularity.

On the losing side was Energem Resources, whose fuel storage and distribution facility in Nigeria caught fire. The news brought the mineral and energy company, which has exploration operations across Africa, down nearly 17% to 54. Energem says the facility has been closed so that the cause of the fire can be investigated.

TSX greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
Tiomin Res	TIO	29233	0.13	0.08	0.125	+	56.2
Gold Reserve	GRZ	3200	8.65	5.04	7.70	+	50.1
Crystallex Int	KRY	42332	4.82	3.49	4.63	+	30.4
Spur Ventures	SVU	1050	0.62	0.42	0.58	+	28.8
Moly Mines	MOL	2922	3.55	2.93	3.55	+	23.2
Red Back Mng	RBI	1794	5.29	4.18	5.29	+	23.0
Avnel Gold	AVK	41	0.62	0.54	0.54	+	22.7
Corriente Res	CTQ	2839	3.64	2.76	3.35	+	21.8
Moneta Porcpn	ME	1235	0.15	0.11	0.14	+	21.7
Canadn Royalts	CZZ	1398	4.25	3.26	4.00	+	21.5
Cancor Mines	KCR	46	0.36	0.30	0.30	–	21.0
Energem Res	ENM	380	0.68	0.54	0.54	–	16.9
Glencairn G wt	GGG_T	459	0.14	0.125	0.125	–	16.6
StrataGold	SGV	1491	0.90	0.72	0.75	–	15.7
QGX	QGX	200	3.10	2.60	2.65	–	13.6
Ascendant Copp	ACX	162	0.72	0.60	0.65	–	13.3
Gabriel Res wt	GBU_T	87	1.64	1.30	1.30	–	13.3
Ontex Res	ONT	14	0.225	0.175	0.19	–	11.6
Grandview Gld	GVX	115	0.58	0.40	0.46	–	11.5
Duluth Metals	DM	469	1.24	1.08	1.09	–	11.3

TSX greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE		CHANGE
Gold Reserve	GRZ	3199630	7.70	+	2.57
First Quantum	FM	2437743	76.54	+	1.54
Uranium Prt wt	U_T	160031	10.80	+	1.51
Quadra Mng	QUA	4393048	10.68	+	1.50
Uranium Partic	U	1913881	17.09	+	1.39
Cameco Corp	CCO	6359701	48.08	+	1.35
Tenke Mining	TNK	1076032	18.38	+	1.20
Kirkland Lk Gd	KGI	1131574	10.15	+	1.12
Crystallex Int	KRY	42332473	4.63	+	1.08
Red Back Mng	RBI	1793542	5.29	+	0.99
Newmont Mng	NMC	311533	48.93	–	1.78
Royal Gold	RGL	12970	34.94	–	1.72
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	5426090	42.32	–	1.58
Alcan	AL	4803748	60.50	–	1.55
Banro Res	BAA	227332	11.83	–	1.51
Teck Comin B	TCKB	4634067	81.75	–	1.48
Inmet Mining	IMN	1117501	64.51	–	0.86
HudBay Minls	HBM	5745425	20.52	–	0.80
Boliden AB	BLS	19021	24.10	–	0.75
Fording C C T	FDG_U	1311131	25.37	–	0.73

TSX most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE		CHANGE
LionOre Mng In	LIM	42423	19.25	18.97	19.15	–	0.14
Crystallex Int	KRY	42332	4.82	3.49	4.63	+	1.08
Tiomin Res	TIO	29233	0.13	0.08	0.125	+	0.045
Dynatec Corp	DY	27418	3.36	3.22	3.36	+	0.07
Chariot Res	CHD	25603	0.99	0.79	0.94	+	0.12
Eastern Platin	ELR	24892	2.19	2.02	2.10	+	0.05
Equinox Minls	EQN	18474	2.33	2.13	2.32	+	0.04
Goldcorp	G	16719	29.11	27.43	28.58	–	0.68
Kinross Gold	K	14743	16.25	15.72	16.05	–	0.05
Paladin Res	PDN	14090	9.34	8.71	9.30	+	0.38