Toronto Stock Exchange Nov. 21-27

The Toronto composite index touched an all-time high of 12,676.85 points on Nov. 27, pulling back slightly that day to finish at 12,542.45. That capped a reporting period of Nov. 21-27 where all-time high values were set on three of the five trading days.

The broad market gained about 1% over that period, but the mining stocks, rebounding from setbacks during the previous weeks, greatly outpaced the other sectors. The Metals and Mining index jumped 4.4% or 25.28 points, closing at 597.34, and the Golds roared up 6.6%, or 19.88 points, to 321.15.

Gold prices themselves did not drive the rally, as gold bullion prices rose a modest US$13.25 over the same period, to US$638.75 in the London afternoon fix on Nov. 27. Silver was up US56.5 over the same period, but platinum and palladium both fell.

The big gainer was Agnico-Eagle Mines, which was up $4.99 at $48. Agnico announced new discoveries of gold zones at four of its exploration projects — LaRonde and Lapa in Quebec, Kittila in Finland, and Pinos Altos in Mexico.

Goldcorp, with 16.8 million shares moving, was the most active of the golds, rising $2.67 to $32.65. Kinross Gold was also heavily traded, rising 60 to $13.56 on a volume of 14.8 million.

Barrick Gold, which rose $1,13 to $33.67, extended its “fair and final offer” for NovaGold Resources, announcing that owners of 14% of NovaGold had bitten on the US$16-per-share bid. The takeover battle is taking on the look of a standoff, with NovaGold shareholders holding out for a higher bid and Barrick having no immediate need to close a deal, but the market is not pricing in a new suitor: NovaGold was up 7 at $18.32, slightly above the $18.13 Canadian-dollar equivalent of the Barrick offer.

Campbell Resources rose 5 to 14.5 with 59 million shares changing hands. Campbell should emerge from creditor protection with the completion of a rights offering that will bring in about $5.6 million.

In the diamond business, Ashton Mining of Canada touched a 52-week low of $1, finishing at $1.03, a penny higher than a week before. Stornoway Diamond, which had requisitioned a special meeting of Ashton shareholders to consider an amalgamation proposal, rose 3 to 95. Both have fallen well off their high prices for the year since Stornoway opened a takeover bid for Ashton in July, and with Stornoway’s shares having fallen further than Ashton’s, a paper offer for the remaining Ashton shares would probably be less attractive than the original takeover offer.

The Ashton meeting has been put back about a month, to Jan. 15, to give a special committee of Ashton directors a chance to assess the amalgamation proposal. There are still no specific numbers but Stornoway, which owns 75.6% of Ashton’s shares, plans to propose a merger between Ashton and a wholly owned Stornoway subsidiary.

Base metal prices jumped during the reporting period, with nickel vaulting almost 12% to US$34,580 per tonne (US$15.69 per lb.). Zinc was up 9%, at US$4,554.50 per tonne (US$2.07 per lb.) and copper rose 2%.

The Toronto listed base metal miners all rose on metal price strength. Among the nickel producers, LionOre Mining International was the winner, rising $1.13 to $10.65, but FNX Mining, up 86 at $15.90, and Sherritt International, up 70 at $12.40, also gained ground.

In copper, First Quantum Minerals was up $5.12 at $60.74 and in zinc, HudBay Minerals rose $1.34 to $19.99.

TSX greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Wallbridge Mng	WM	7827	0.55	0.32	0.54	+63.6
HMZ Metals	HMZ	2624	0.095	0.04	0.065	+62.5
Northgate wtA	NGX.WT.A	255	0.60	0.355	0.56	+60.0
Northgate M wt	NGX.WT	743	0.60	0.335	0.54	+54.2
Campbell Res	CCH	58977	0.16	0.085	0.145	+52.6
Intl Nickel Vn	INV	2131	2.30	1.46	2.00	+37.9
Nuinsco Res	NWI	27921	1.05	0.65	0.93	+32.8
Revett Mnls	RVM	566	1.57	1.20	1.50	+31.5
Apollo Gold	APG	444	0.50	0.39	0.495	+30.2
YGC Res	YGC	631	2.45	1.94	2.35	+27.7
Eastern Pla wt	ELR.WT	29	0.55	0.40	0.45	-47.0
Peregrine D wt	PGD.WT	151	0.13	0.09	0.10	-33.3
Gryphon Gold	GGN	1596	1.40	0.95	0.98	-26.3
Diamond Fields	DFI	556	0.105	0.09	0.09	-14.2
Global Alumina	GLA.U	1307	1.33	1.14	1.14	-12.9
SouthernEra Di	SDM	1188	0.38	0.335	0.35	-10.2
South Am Gld&C	SAG	1926	0.05	0.045	0.045	-10.0
Pure Gld Mnr	PUG	1543	0.06	0.05	0.05	-9.0
Ascendant Copp	ACX	10	1.15	0.90	0.90	-9.0
Cancor Mines	KCR	135	0.39	0.35	0.35	-9.0

TSX greatest value change

		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
First Quantum	FM	2647771	60.74	+5.12
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	4159647	48.00	+4.99
Teck Comin B	TCK.B	4477410	84.55	+4.99
Teck Comin A	TCK.A	11528	87.30	+3.65
Silver Std Res	SSO	584305	32.93	+3.62
Agnico-Eag wt*	AEM.WT.U	28060	23.67	+3.37
Meridian Gold	MNG	1669208	33.32	+2.77
Cameco Corp	CCO	11092837	40.00	+2.70
Goldcorp	G	16774973	32.65	+2.67
Pan Am Silver	PAA	2064150	27.48	+2.23
Skye Res	SKR	2941893	11.15	-0.85
Fording C C T	FDG.UN	1840291	23.05	-0.62
Ivanhoe Mines	IVN	5583172	10.29	-0.41
Eastern Pla wt	ELR.WT	28943	0.45	-0.40
Gryphon Gold	GGN	1596004	0.98	-0.35
Katanga Mng	KAT	299460	5.90	-0.35
Fronteer Dev G	FRG	1527172	10.19	-0.33
Western Areas	WSA	123640	3.73	-0.32
Banro Res	BAA	31628	14.65	-0.18
CIC Energy	ELC	540650	9.98	-0.17

TSX most active issues

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Campbell Res	CCH	58977	0.16	0.085	0.145	+0.05
Dynatec Corp	DY	35291	2.17	1.92	2.06	+0.14
Paladin Res	PDN	32773	6.34	5.59	6.30	+0.65
Eastern Platin	ELR	29261	1.33	1.19	1.22	+0.03
Nuinsco Res	NWI	27921	1.05	0.65	0.93	+0.23
Goldcorp	G	16775	32.95	30.40	32.65	+2.67
Kinross Gold	K	14777	13.64	13.10	13.56	+0.60
Chariot Res	CHD	13451	0.65	0.59	0.62	+0.02
Eldorado Gold	ELD	12603	6.32	5.81	6.30	+0.48
Bema Gold	BGO	11997	5.94	5.69	5.88	+0.26