Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) tabled a fourth quarter loss of $968.8 million, or $1.47 per share thanks to a writedown associated with its $3 billion acquisition of Bema Gold two years ago. That’s down from the $173.1 million or $0.028 per share profit hit in the same period a year earlier. The major produced 550,221 gold equivalent ounces in the fourth quarter at cash costs of $375 per ounce. Kinross ended the day up C$0.04 at $24.43.

Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) posted a profit of $21.9 million, or $0.15 per share for the fourth quarter. That is less than the $65.2 million or $0.46 per share recorded in the same period of 2007. The company had record gold production of 89,360 ounces in the fourth quarter and posted record annual gold production of 276,762 ounces. Agnico ended the day down C$1.30 at C$67.30.

It was a rough day for shareholders of Redcorp Ventures as the junior reported that construction activities at the Tulsequah Chief mine project in British Columbia will remain suspended. The suspension is a result of rising capital costs and falling metal prices. Redcorp ended the session down C$0.03 at C$0.01.

Gold miner La Mancha Resources added C$0.04 to close at C$0.44 after the company said it expected to produce between 85,000 and 100,000 ounces in 2009 at a cash cost of $497 per ounce.

Condor Resources added C$0.03 to C$0.13 after the company reported that a drill hole, completed by a major international mining company without the knowledge or consent of Condor on its Austral property in Chile, collared within an adjacent mineral claim and terminated in claims staked and owned 100 per cent by Condor cut 266 metres running 0.25% copper.

The financial stocks hit new 52-week lows and appeared poised to move lower ahead of the release of fourth quarter earnings. We will see what Thursday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Thursday, February 19th, 2009

The analysts were confident about valuations going forward, especially long term. Company execs swore their deals didn’t need any money, while brokers and bankers alike had a gleam in their eye about the financing opportunities amid the debris — even a sense of urgency. One broker — my former business partner, actually — wondered whether the fundamentals for gold have ever been as bullish in our lives.

The answer was unambiguous. The market has answered too.

Newmont and Freeport this week filed documents in conjunction with potential underwritings by J.P. Morgan (NYSE:JPM) and Citigroup (NYSE:C), in the amounts of $1.2 billion and $750 million, respectively, totaling just under $2 billion. Kinross sold UBS about $400 million worth of stock last week. Lundin’s Red Back also negotiated a bought deal worth about $150 million with a group of underwriters led by Cormark Securities and BMO last week. Earlier this month, Yamana (NYSE:AUY) closed a $135 million share offer and borrowed $200 million, while in December, Agnico-Eagle (NYSE:AEM) raised some $300 million from stock issuances after borrowing $300 million a few months earlier (in September). Where’s the deflation?!

The money is coming into the gold sector. The Canadian National Post reported last week that gold miners are “raising cash with ease… many generalist funds have jumped onto the precious metals bandwagon.”

Many juniors have also reported financings where needed. Some are turning them away. Share issues are just too dilutive down here, and any company that doesn’t need money to survive 2009 is prudent to refuse.

Asked about the ability of miners to raise cash in this environment, the analysts at the podium at the Cambridge House investment conference in Vancouver all agreed there is always funding for assets that have sound economic fundamentals. They finance themselves. In fact, in my experience, it is often better to buy the shares of companies with good assets that need cash than companies with cash and no assets, even if the latter are trading at a discount to cash breakup, and even if funding is relatively scarce. Companies with a lot of cash can sometimes get lazy and put up their feet, or insiders waste it — or even steal it, if they lack integrity. Cash itself yields nothing. It’s a depreciating good, as you know. It’s one thing to buy a company at below cash breakup and then break it up and keep the extra cash. It is another thing to invest in a company at cash breakup or less. We invest to earn profits.

If you want to buy cash at a discount, buy a T-bill or term deposit. Or else, you’re just sharing in potential losses due to debasement, negligence, debauchery or theft. That doesn’t mean you should avoid the deals that have a lot of cash — just that’s not what you’re investing in. You are investing either in the underlying asset, which yields profit (i.e., more cash in the future) or management’s abilities.

Ultimately, sound “assets” will hold their value better than idle cash in an inflationary environment.

It is obvious that through this crisis, despite some turbulence, gold prices have held up better than just about any other asset, commodity or currency (other than dollars and yen) we may imagine. From the point of view of a gold miner, this is a very good thing. Even better is that the price of oil, a significant cost input for miners, has fallen a lot relative to gold. This is bullish for margins. Also bullish for gold miners is that the slump may have freed up capital and labor for the development of gold assets, where previous scarcity drove up capex estimates so much that some projects had to be abandoned.

The combination of strong investment demand for gold and lower input costs makes gold stocks one of the only sectors poised for any growth in operating results (i.e., earnings and cash flows) in 2009.

On the other hand, the ratio of gold prices to many of the commodities, and the averages, is at more than a 10-year extreme, and it is not sustainable. As a matter of fact, I think it could be a drag on gold prices. Gold is the only commodity challenging the resistance point in its post-March 2008 downtrend.

It looks poised to break out, and the other commodities appear to be bottoming.

However, while the extremity lasts, it could cap gold prices.

My feeling is that the gold ratios (i.e., gold prices relative to other assets, commodities and currencies) are going to ebb in the short term while commodity prices catch up a little. I continue to think that this catch-up phase will include a rally in stock prices, and a general recovery in risk appetite, even if short-lived. While it lasts, it is likely to shave a few safe-haven points off gold. It hasn’t started yet.

I’m not looking for new lows in gold on this… just some backfilling and consolidation while the other commodities and assets catch up some. This could happen over the next few months. Then look out.

Regardless, however, I expect gold shares to benefit from the general return of risk appetite too.

That is, but for some ebb and flow, I expect gold shares to do well whether gold goes up or not — so long as it doesn’t go down too much. As long as it holds the $800-850 level, gold shares are a buy.

It is still a buyer’s market. Many gold shares are still factoring in a gold price of less than $800. But don’t be hasty.

Rather, be deliberate, which means don’t waver from the plan or your conviction on dips. Buy them. Try not to buy on days when everyone else is, like today, but make sure you have a shopping list and just pick away at it when you get the dip.

Investors should always wade in (and out) of their positions, rather than jumping in and out — as ole Jesse Livermore used to do. They called him the “Boy Plunger.” He made big on the way up and lost big on the way down. There are lots of folks like that on Wall Street. They’re big gamblers. You could say the Fed made them. They don’t care about the black swan, because they believe that should they lose, they will just win again tomorrow.

Keep in mind, though, you’re not buying blue chips here. Small-cap miners (and options) are extremely volatile and risky.

Remember this is for 10-20% of your financial assets — whatever you can sleep at night with. Some people can sleep with more — some can’t sleep anyway. I guess the analogy doesn’t apply to insomniacs, but you get the gist.

Good trading,

Ed Bugos
for The Daily Reckoning

Source: Gold Ratios: Bearish for Gold Prices, Bullish for Gold Shares

But starting at that 3:00 a.m. time, gold went on a nice little tear…through the London open, and lasted until shortly after London closed for the day…11:00 a.m. Eastern. Three attempts were made to corral the price…the first at 7:00 a.m., the second at around 8:45…and success came shortly before 11:30 in New York. Physical selling was reported to be the cause…this tidbit from the usual NY commentator. By the time that Globex trading was through at 5:15 Eastern time yesterday, the gold price was back under control…for the moment.

Silver’s ride on Tuesday was very similar to gold’s. It was obvious that the boyz weren’t going to allow it to rise much either…although it certainly gave it the old college try. By the end of the day all the lovely gains in the gold and silver shares had pretty much evaporated, with the HUI even being down on the day. Globex gold volume was extremely heavy yesterday…almost a record…with volume (net of switches) around 180,000 contracts.

Despite the ‘wonderful’ day on Tuesday (to go along with Friday’s), the gold price still isn’t out of the woods yet. It should be obvious to you that there is a gargantuan ‘gold war’ going on out there with the Fed (acting through select bullion banks…primarily JPMorgan) going short against all longs. And it’s been a success as far as the Fed is concerned. Back in 1981, the gold price hit $850. That’s where it is at this writing…28 years later. The Point and Figure chart looks promising, but we need a substantial breakout from here to turn this chart around…$895 looks like the magic number. Here’s the chart…updated from Friday.

click to enlarge

Gold open interest on Friday was only up 3,937 contracts to 317,735…which is not a lot considering the $30+ move that gold had. A rising gold price with a small open interest increase means one thing…only a handful of players were prepared to go short against these longs…something that did not happen on Tuesday, unfortunately. In silver, o.i. was up a more substantial 1,543 to 87,023 contracts. I would expect both Monday’s and Tuesday’s o.i. numbers will be combined when reported later this morning. Considering the volume…gold in particular should be a rather large number.

In gold news, here’s a story posted at expressindia.com…Mumbai…”(gold) demand has fallen to 50-100 kgs per day from 1-2 tonnes per day in August 2008 due to a lack of buying interest and higher prices, Bombay Bullion Association (BBA)’s President Suresh Hundia told PTI here.” Reuters…”On Friday, JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) downgraded Goldcorp (NYSE:GG), Kinross (NYSE:KGC) and Agnico-Eagle (NYSE:AEM) to neutral from overweight, and Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) to underweight from neutral.” [One should expect nothing less from JPMorgan – Ed] And the Bank of Russia reported on their website yesterday that they had increased their gold bullion reserves by another 300,000 ounces in December…and now sit on 16.7 million fine troy ounces of the stuff. Despite all their currency problems, they’re still smart enough to know that they should turn worthless paper into precious metals at every opportunity. So should you!

In ‘other news’…where does one begin! It should be obvious to anyone with a pulse that the entire world’s financial system is imploding right before their eyes. The Royal Bank of Scotland and the Halifax Bank of Scotland…as well as Barclays…are at the centre of a U.K. banking and monetary implosion…which followed through in New York yesterday, with JPM, BAC, C, GS and WFC getting absolutely blown out of the water. The Guardian (Brussels) “Europe’s car industry faces collapse without rapid intervention from EU governments.” [Note the photos of acres of unsold cars from all over the world. Click here. – Ed]. Bloomberg (Singapore)…”Asian central banks will cut interest rates and pursue competitive devaluations of their currencies in the first half of the year.” Bloomberg (Singapore)… “ ‘Time to Sell’ Treasuries, Biggest Korean Fund Says”…A rally that sent U.S. Treasuries to their best year since 1995 is coming to an end, South Korea’s National Pension Service, the country’s biggest investor, said.” Bloomberg (Madrid)…Spain’s Credit Rating Dowgraded by S&P as Slump Swells Budget Gap.” Bloomberg (Moscow) “Ruble Drops to Pre-1998 Crisis Low on 6th Devaluation This Year.”

Because of the long weekend and the international banking crisis, I’ve got four stories today. The first is the usual weekly essay from silver analyst, Ted Butler. He reflects on silver’s supply, which may be a lot less than is generally thought, less even than Butler himself has thought. His commentary is headlined “Real Silver Availability” and the link is here.

The next story is from last week, but it came out too late for Saturday’s commentary. Hank Paulson did not leave his post without a final shot at China. In this Bloomberg story, “a Chinese central bank official attacked reported comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that China’s high savings rate helped trigger the global credit crisis.” Paulson’s logic is similar to that of a teenager pleading to a judge for clemency because he is an orphan after he killed both of his parents. The story, entitled “China Central Bank Attacks Paulson’s ‘Gangster Logic’…and the link is here.

From The Telegraph in London comes this story entitled “Help Ireland or it will exit euro, economist warns”…”If Ireland continues hurtling down this road, which is close to default, the whole of Europe will be badly affected. The credibility of the euro will be badly affected. Then Spain might default, Italy and Greece,” said Mr. McWilliams, a former UBS (NYSE:UBS) director and now prominent broadcaster. McWilliams has broken the ultimate taboo by evoking threats to precipitate an EMU crisis, which would risk a chain reaction across the eurozone’s southern belt.” The link is here.

In a story reprinted from the Economic Times in London, the heading reads “U.S. and U.K. on Brink of Debt Disaster”…”The remaining option is to tolerate, even encourage, a faster rate of inflation to improve debt-service capacity. Even more than debt nationalization, inflation is the ultimate way to spread the costs of debt workout across the widest possible section of the population.” The story is linked here.

The markets have more power than all the tin-horn politicians on the planet earth. The markets have more power than the Fed and all the central banks of the world taken together. Remember, the Fed’s inflation and interest rate manipulations will work only as long as the markets go along with the Fed. The minute the markets see that the Fed’s machinations aren’t working, then we’ll get our first taste of true deflation, and the Fed’s power will have evaporated. – Richard Russell

Two other stories that didn’t make the cut today were separate stories out of England and the USA about how both country’s central banks were about to turn on the printing presses and monetize their respective debts. It’s their only way out now…unless they want to revalue the gold price ..and it doesn’t look like that’s in the cards at the moment. John Exeter’s inverse liquidity pyramid is posted above. We’ve gone from “Small Business” to “Paper Money” in an unbelievably short 18 months…and now the Fed is trying its best to prevent the final resolution to gold. They’re fighting a losing battle. Now it’s only a matter of when…and how high. Buy physical gold and silver and take possession, as I get the distinct feeling that we’re nearly out of time. And it might be worth considering taking a few months’ worth of living expenses out of the bank while you’re at it.

See you on Thursday.

Source: And Then There’s This…Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Shares of Hudbay Minerals (HBM) added C$0.38 to close at C$5.35, while Lundin Mining failed to attract interest losing C$0.05 to close at C$1.95.

Diversified miner Teck Cominco (TCK) added C$1.20 to close at C$16.30.

Shares of Blue Note Mining (BN) hit C$0.01 after the company announced that its Caribou and Restigouche zinc and lead mines in eastern Canada are being put on care and maintenance. Current zinc and lead prices make the operation unprofitable.

Shares of Alexis Minerals (AMC) jumped C$0.09 to close at C$0.395 following news of a 3.45 metre drill intercept running 6.81% copper at its project in Val d’Or, Quebec.

The big board gold miners got slammed yet again as Barrick Gold (ABX) fell C$1.11 to close at C$27.93, Goldcorp dropped C$1.05 to close at C$23.70, Kinross Gold ended the day down C$0.15 at C$12.75, Yamana Gold (YRI) gave back C$0.09 to close at 5.55 and Agnico Eagle (AEM) bucked the trend by adding C$0.61 to close at C$42.53.

Inflation versus deflation seems to be the trading story of the day, with several pundits now betting against gold as interest rates appear set to fall further. We will see what Monday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Monday, October 20th, 2008

Junior explorers that have liquidity faced the brunt of the selloff with Full Metal Minerals dropping C$0.075 to close at C$0.315, Hathor Exploration (HAT) lost C$0.23 to close at C$1.50 and VMS Ventures (VMS) dropped C$0.01 to close at C$0.28. Full Metals is in the midst of the bulk sample at its Lucky Shot project in Alaska, Hathor has a nice looking uranium discovery at its MidWest NorthEast project in Saskatchewan and VMS has a high-grade base metal discovery on its Reed lake project in Manitoba.

The big board gold miners took it on the chin with Barrick Gold (ABX) falling C$4 to close at C$29.20, Goldcorp dropped C$3.41 to close at C$24.37, Kinross Gold ended the day down C$2.37 at C$12.90, Agnico Eagle (AEM) plunged C$5.28 to close at C$41.92 and Yamana Gold (YRI) gave back C$0.48 to close at 5.64.

The junior board looks set to test the 2002 lows of 890 and a break below this one would mark uncharted waters for the Venture Exchange. The historic low goes back to the VSE Index days in 1998 and 1999 when the bourse treaded water in the 400 point range. We will see what Friday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Friday, October 17, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange gained 2.30%, while the TSX Gold Index added an impressive 19.1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, dropped 1.99% with the declining issuers swamping the advancers by a 660 to 315 margin on good volume of 191 million shares traded.

The trading on the junior board was all about those companies that happen to have some liquidity for the sellers. Shares of VMS Ventures, which has been posting stellar results from its Reed Lake Discovery project in Manitoba, lost C$0.035 to close at C$0.295 with nearly 1 million shares traded, and B2Gold, the once highly touted Colombian gold explorer, lost C$0.05 at C$0.45 on over 1.9 million shares traded.

Shares of Eurasian Minerals (EMX) added C$0.13 to close at C$0.85 after the junior announced trench results of 19.15% copper and 140 grams silver per tonne over 14 metres at the Champagne prospect in Haiti.

Sherwood Copper (SWC) had a rough session on no new developments. The Yukon copper miner lost C$0.32 to close at C$2.05.

The big board gold miners were the winners of the day, as Barrick Gold (ABX) added C$6.53 to close at C$40.20, Goldcorp (G) surged C$5.53 to close at C$34.36, Agnico Eagle (AEM) tacked on C$6.95 to close at C$57.20, Kinross Gold (K) climbed C$3.05 at C$18.30 and Yamana Gold (YRI) added C$1.34 to close at C$8.40.

It is all about cash preservation for the junior explorers as they try to ride out this credit crunch. A massive amount of juniors have essentially gone no bid, making it impossible to sell in any size. We will see what Thursday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Thursday, October 9, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange fell 2.86%, while the TSX Gold Index surged 11.4% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, rode the gold price higher by adding 0.72% with the declining issuers edging out the advancers by a 494 to 426 margin on volume of 149.5 million shares traded.

The big board gold miners rallied with Barrick Gold (ABX) adding C$4.44 to close at C$35.31, Goldcorp (GG) gained C$3.16 to close at C$32.80, Agnico Eagle (AEM) added C$6.37 to close at C$62.99 and Yamana Gold (YRI) tacked on C$0.69 to close at C$9.99.

On the Silver front, shares of Silver Standard Resource rode the gold-silver wave by adding C$3.26 to close at C$19.56.

Investors bid up shares in International Barytex Resources (IBX) as the company recently tabled a feasibility study for its Shituru copper project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Barytex closed at C$0.50 for a C$0.20 gain.

The latest junior to announce a share buyback was Stealth Ventures. The company says it can buy back up to 6.5 million of its shares. That sent its share price up C$0.05 at C$0.30.

Despite the big jump in the price of gold, the junior bourse is having trouble finding any traction because investors remain fearful of any paper asset. We will see what Thursday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Thursday September 18, 2008

For the tail of the tape; the TSX Exchange lost 2.20%, while the TSX Gold Index dropped 0.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 1.72% with the declining issuers beating out the advancers by a 589 to 324 margin on volume of 129 million shares traded.

The big news of the day was Kinross Gold’s all share bid to buy former market darling Aurelian Resources (TSE:ARU). The friendly deal is valued at around C$1.2 billion and would see Aurelian shareholders get 0.317 of a Kinross share, plus 0.1429 of a warrant for each Aurelian share held. The Kinross warrants have an exercise price of C$32 per and have a five year term. There is a $42 million break fee attached. Kinross also agreed to purchase 15 million shares of Aurelian at a price of C$4.75 per share. The move would give Kinross the highly touted but politically troubled Fruta del Norte gold deposit in Ecuador. Aurelian ended the day up C$1.86 at C$6.31, while Kinross lost C$2.14 to close at C$18.70.

On the earnings front, Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) saw its second quarter profit fall 78% thanks in large part to lower zinc prices at its LaRonde mine. Net income tallied $8.3 million or $0.06 per share compared to $37.8 million or $0.27 per share in the year ago period. Agnico ended the session down C$5.02 at C$59.78.

Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT) upped its 2008 forecast after posting a second quarter profit of $905.1 million, or $2.82 a share. That is more than triple its $285.7 million, or $0.88 per share profit tabled in the year ago period. Not good enough in a down market as Potash ended the session at C$196.85, for a C$5.38 loss.

Meanwhile, Teck Cominco (NYSE:TCK) saw its second quarter earnings rise a modest 2.5% to C$497 million from C$485 million a year earlier. Driving the gain was higher copper and coal sales. Teck ended the day down C$0.52 at C$38.66.

The bears have a firm grip on the resource-rich Canadian markets and without a storm or some political tensions the losses look set to accelerate. We will see what Friday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Friday, July 25th, 2008

It’s just a matter of time before core inflation starts rising alongside corn, wheat, beef and prices at the pump.

Ordinarily, the Fed would start raising rates to stave off higher prices.

But Bernanke really doesn’t want to be an inflation hawk right now. Raising rates would only make the already weakening economy weaker still. (Never good in an election year).

If Bernanke has to choose between a weaker economy and moderately higher inflation, I believe he will choose higher inflation, hoping that he can put the genie back in the bottle once the economy is growing again.

Since gold traditionally rises with inflation, that means now is probably a good time to add to your holdings.

Here are the essential facts:

At one time the world’s monetary system was based on gold. It is a universally recognized store of value. It can be bought and sold in any country.

And it is scarce. There are 4 billion ounces of gold in people’s hands, enough to fill a cube 60 feet on a side. Of this, investors own 1 billion ounces, and central banks another billion, with the remaining 2 billion ounces accounted for by jewelry and other baubles.

Last year, more than 80 million ounces were extracted worldwide. Two-thirds went to jewelry makers and the rest to bullion.

If you want to own gold that you can touch, you can buy bullion. But there will be a markup when you buy it or unload it – and fees to store and insure it. The same is true of coins, especially with numismatics.

Understand, too, that while gold has been in a major uptrend over the past few years – hitting an all-time high of $1,030.80 on March 17 – shares of the natural-resource companies that bring the gold to market have performed considerably better. That isn’t likely to change.

Over the past 50 years, major gold mining companies have risen at an annual rate of approximately 12%. That’s better than the return of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, although the trade-off has been head-snapping volatility along the way.

Perhaps the most conservative way to buy blue chip mining companies is to plunk for a few shares of Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) Exchange Traded Fund.

An ETF, Market Vectors is linked to the AMEX Gold Miners Index and owns all of the world’s leading gold and silver mining companies. That means you can capture the performance of the entire sector in a single, well-diversified investment.

The annual expense ratio is one half of 1%. The shares can be margined or sold short – and there are options available for traders.

Here are some of the stocks among the Top 10 holdings:

• Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM).
• Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX).
• Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX).
• Anglo American PLC (ADR: AAUK).
• Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR: HMY).
• Kinross Gold Corp. (KGC).
• Yamana Gold Inc. (AUY).
• Gold Fields Ltd. (ADR: GFI).
• Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM).

Right now the economy is weak – and the outlook for inflation is poor. But this is creating plenty of profit opportunities – if you know where to look.

So pick up a few shares of Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF – or talk to a resource broker.

Tell them Ben Bernanke sent you…

Editor’s Note: Alexander Green is Investment Director of The Oxford Club and Chairman of Investment U. To get Green’s actionable investment ideas three times a week – at no charge – sign up for the Investment U e-letter. If you join for free today, they’ll send you their latest special commodities research report: “Five Million Reasons to Load Up On Coal Now – and Three Easy Ways to do it.” You’ll find out why the standardized shipping container is driving coal demand through the roof -and how that’s delivering literal “boatloads” of profits to three companies. Just click here to have your report delivered in less than two minutes. Again, the report, and the service, both are free of charge.

Alexander Green appears as a guest author on today’s Money Morning.

Source: If You’re Prospecting for Gold, Tell Them Ben Bernanke Sent You

It was a good day for shareholders of Noble Metal Group (NMG) after the company’s subsidiary has entered into an exploration agreement with Cougar Minerals for the exploration of Noble’s 37,980 hectares of oil shale exploration permitted lands near Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan. Noble ended the day up C$0.035 at C$0.325.

Shares of Stornoway Diamond (SWY) bounced off the floor after the company announced that it arranged a C$22 million private placement priced at C$0.90 to Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) and Lorito Holdings to pay off a C$20 million convertible debenture. Stornoway ended the day up C$0.07 at C$0.36, while Agnico lost C$2.63 to C$73.19.

On the drill front, Fortress Minerals (FST) hit 91.8 metres running 1.82 grams gold per tonne at its Elena target on the Svetloye project located in northeastern Russia. Fortress ended the day flat at C$1 even.

Closer to home, Full Metal Minerals (FMM) continues to tag on its LWM deposit in Eastern Alaska. The latest includes 19.9 metres running 12.5% zinc, 8.1% lead and 158.7 grams silver per tonne. Investors did not care as shares of Full Metal closed down C$0.05 at C$1.15.

Some signs of the trading life during the late stages of Wednesday trading so perhaps the worst is now behind us. Wishful thinking? We will see what Thursday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Thursday July 17, 2008