TSX holds ground on promising signs from the south

A solid U.S. employment report had investors believing in a stronger U.S. economy and that help lift the TSX Composite Index out of mid-week swoon. The Index finished the March 5-9 period down just 4 points at 12,503 points.

Beyond the stellar jobs report — which said the American economy created 227,000 jobs in the last quarter — there was good news from Europe as a key bond swap was completed in Greece which paved the way for European finance ministers to approve a €130-billion bailout for the country.

The price of gold did little other than hold value as the yellow metal fell US$1 to US$1,711.50 per oz. and gold miners fell in step as evidenced by the Global Gold Index falling 10 points to finish at 359 points.

The diversified miners were off slightly too as the Capped Metals & Mining Index dropped 51 points to 1,125 points with the prices for copper, aluminum, nickel, tin, lead and zinc all falling.

Xinergy was one of the period’s big gainers as the coal miners shares gained 39% to reach $2.50 after releasing its financial results. The company said its revenues last year from coal sales jumped 53% on increased production to a record $166.3 million. The company, which operates coal mines in the Central Appalachian Mountains, still lost $14.1 million for the year, but with $73 million in cash, the market didn’t put much stock in the loss. Xinergy attributed the loss to an increase in finance and related costs connected to the issuance of $200 million in secured notes.

Eco Oro also enjoyed a healthy interest in its shares as the company’s stock was up 19% to $2.48. The gain came after it announced a maiden resource estimate on a new deposit at its Angostura gold-silver deposit in northeastern Colombia. The newly defined deposit is known as Mongora and it sits 3-km south of its multi-million ounce Angostura gold deposit. Mongora now has inferred resources of 3.1 million tonnes grading 2.86 grams of gold and 4.62 grams of silver for 282,867 oz. of gold and 456,938 oz. of silver.

News of Molycorp’s acquisition of Neo Material Technologies for $1.3 billion helped to spark a rally amongst other rare-earth companies listed on the TSX. Rare Element Resources was up 15% to $6.10. Quest Rare Minerals and Avalon Rare Metals also partook as both company’s shares were up roughly 14%. Molycorp said Thursday after the close of regular trading that it agreed to buy rare-earths processor Neo Material for cash and stock.

 The deal will combine Molycorp’s rare earth open-pit mine in California with Neo Material’s advanced rare earth processing capabilities. Neo Material has patented the Magnequench range of metal powders that are used to make neodymium-iron-boron magnets and owns facilities in China, Thailand, Germany and North America that produce rare earth oxides, alloys and magnetic powders.