U.S. equities turn positive, Jan. 3-6

The first week of 2012 started off better than expected for U.S. equities with the Dow Jones Industrial Index climbing 1.17% or 142.36 points to close at 12,359.92 and the S&P 500 index rising 1.61% or 20.21 points to finish at 1,277.81. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver index advanced 3.62% or 6.53 points to 187.17. The trading week saw a slight uptick in sentiment as data showed employment growth in the U.S. accelerated in the last month of 2011 and the jobless rate dropped to a near three-year low. But continuing worry about the Euro zone debt crisis and fear that China’s economy is slowing was underscored in volatile copper prices. After losing a fifth of their value in 2011, the price of copper hit a three-week high on Jan. 3, with three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closing at US$7,790 per tonne. The price fell the next day by 3.2% to US$7,540 a tonne before ending the week at US$7,580 a tonne on Jan. 6. 

Rare Element Resources surged 77.2% or US$2.51 per share US$5.76 after the junior updated the resource estimate for its Bear Lodge project in Wyoming. Measured and indicated resources increased 38% to 6.2 million tonnes averaging 3.75% rare earth oxides (REO) at a 1.5% REO cut-off grade, up from 4.4 million tonnes averaging 3.77% REO last year. Inferred resources add about 22 million tonnes at 2.74% REO, including 16.1 million tonnes at 3.10% REO at a 2% cut-off grade. All of the measured and indicated resources and 15 million tonnes of the inferred resources are near-surface oxide and oxide-carbonate mineralization.

Shares of Quaterra Resources rose 27.2% to 70¢ per share, bolstered by an announcement on Jan. 5 that the company had validated an historic copper resource on the Yerrington copper project in Nevada. At a cutoff grade of 0.2% total copper, measured and indicated resources at Yerington total 71.8 million tons averaging 0.30% total copper for 430 million pounds of copper. Yerington’s inferred primary copper resource adds 63.9 million tons averaging 0.25% total copper for 323 million pounds of contained copper.  Acid-soluble oxide/chalcocite mineralization includes a measured and indicated resource of 9.4 million tons averaging 0.30% total copper for about 57 million pounds of copper with an inferred resource of 8.6 million tons averaging 0.28% total copper for 47 million pounds of copper.

Cliffs Natural Resources advanced US$4.24 to close at US$66.59 per share. Cliffs announced that its majority owned affiliate had reached agreement for the sale of its previously discontinued renewaFUEL Biomass plant in Michigan to RNFL Acquisition LLC. The financial terms were not disclosed.