TSX soars, June 9-13

The Toronto Stock Exchange climbed near the record high it reached six years ago, with the S&P/TSX Composite Index adding 163 points to end at 15,001.61, slightly below the record close of 15,073 set in June 2008 before the recession.

The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index added nearly 12 points to 183.57, as the spot price for gold jumped nearly US$24 per oz. to US$1,275.90, on the back of escalating sectarian violence in oil-rich Iraq, where Islamist militants aim to take over Baghdad. The conflict has pushed up oil prices, as fears about global oil supplies grow.

The S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals & Mining Index bucked the upward trend, falling 10 points to 831.17.

The week’s most actively traded stock was B2Gold, with 36.8 million shares changing hands. The company said construction of its Otjikoto gold mine in Namibia remains on budget and track for completion by year-end. According to a 2013 feasibility study, pre-development costs for the open-pit mine are US$244 million. The study projects life-of-mine production of 112,000 oz. gold a year at an average operating cash cost of US$689 per oz.

B2Gold released more high-grade drill results from the new Wolfshag zone near Otjikoto, including 20 metres of 11.78 grams gold per tonne, containing a 10.8-metre intercept of 20.58 grams gold. The gold producer has drilled 63 holes at Wolfshag this year and anticipates upgrading the zone’s inferred resource to the indicated category, with a resource estimate expected by year-end. B2Gold — which in early June announced a US$570-million acquisition of ASX-listed Mali-focused Papillon Resources — gained 34¢ to end the week at $2.84.

Osisko Mining saw heavy trading after reporting that it has received a final court approval for the joint acquisition of all of its shares by Agnico Eagle Mines and Yamana Gold. The $3.9-billion acquisition of the junior gold producer closed on June 16, and the spin-out royalty firm, Osisko Gold Royalties, debuted on the same day. Osisko Mining reported record monthly gold production of 51,114 oz. from its Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec. Since production began in April 2011, the mine has produced 1.3 million oz. gold.

Osisko closed at $8.65 on 17.1 million shares traded, while Agnico, one of the week’s top value adders, advanced $2.69 per share to $36.25. Yamana jumped 85¢ to $9.

It was a good week for Cerro Grande Mining. Its shares soared 43% to 5¢ after announcing on June 12 that it received permission to resume operations at its Pimenton gold–copper mine in Chile. The municipal government in San Esteban, where the mine is located, forced Cerro Grande to shut down the operation in May because it lacked a municipal permit for the plant and camp buildings.

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