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Resource Stock Roundup:Monday, July 27, 2009

Doug Casey — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:01:52 +0000

After posting nice returns earlier in the week, the Canadian markets took a well deserved rest during Friday trading. For the tale of the tape: the TSX Exchange tacked on 0.11%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 0.60%, and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.50% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 415 to 373 margin on a modest 137 million shares traded.
Silvercorp Metals has terminated its unsolicited offer to acquire Klondex Mines but Paramount Gold and Silver (AMEX:PZG) is offering up 1.45 of its shares for each Klondex share. This would value the transaction at around C$80 million. Silvercorp ended the day down C$0.08 at C$3.85, Klondex closed up C$0.04 at C$1.90 and Paramount closed up C$0.02 at C$1.47.

Nevgold Resource announced that the drill rig will be turning on its Cordero gold project in Nevada. The junior is targeting high-grade feeders at around 450 meters depth. Nevgold ended the day unchanged at C$0.15.

The Evolving Gold story continued to evolve. The junior mobilized a fourth core drill rig to its Rattlesnake Hills property in Wyoming. Evolving Gold closed at C$1.29, for a C$0.18 gain.

The markets appear to be at a pivotal turning point with signs that an economic recovery is at hand driving buyers back into equities. We shall see what Monday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup:Monday, July 27, 2009

Resource Stock Roundup:Friday, July 24th, 2009

Doug Casey — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 22:04:23 +0000

The resource-rich Canadian markets continued to gain momentum to the upside during Thursday trading with only the gold sector showing signs of weakness. For the tale of the tape; the TSX Exchange surged 2.33%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 0.79% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 1.28% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 432 to 371 margin on 184 million shares traded.
Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) posted a second quarter profit of $570 million or $1.17 per share thanks to a non-cash foreign exchange gain of $413 million and a $33 million gain for the sale of its Hemlo gold operations in Ontario. Revenues from coal operations increased by $410 million but copper and zinc revenues fell by $508 million due to lower metal prices and lower copper sales. Teck ended the day up C$1.25 at C$26 even.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT), the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, saw second quarter profits fall by 79% to $187.1 million or $0.62 per share. Stripping out a one-time gain of $115.3 million from previously impaired securities and the profit tallied $0.32 per share. The company also announced that 2009 earnings will be less than previously forecast as demand from farmers declined. This did not dismay investors as Potash ended the session up C$7.09 at C$104.59.

Brett Resources tabled an updated inferred resource of 155 million metric tons grading 1.04 gram gold per metric ton for its Hammond Reef deposit in Ontario. Brett ended the day up C$0.03 at C$0.89.

The appetite for resource related equities appears to be insatiable right now with the bigger producers receiving most of the interest. We shall see what Friday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup:Friday, July 24th, 2009

Resource Stock Roundup:Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Doug Casey — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:30:23 +0000

It was a rather uneventful session during Wednesday trading on the Canadian Markets with the fluctuating price of commodities effecting individual sectors. For the tale of the tape; the TSX Exchange gave back 0.64%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 0.79% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.79% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 395 to 354 margin on 152 million shares traded.

High-flying Ventana Gold appointed Stephen Orr to the position of president and chief executive officer effective September 1. Mr. Orr was chief executive officer of OceanaGold and prior to that he was vice-president of North American operations, then managing director of Australia and Africa for Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX). Ventana ended the day up C$0.01 at C$5.20.

Following the Colombian gold theme, Ventana’s neighbor Greystar Resources ended the day up C$0.35 at C$4.30.

Shares of Keegan Resources (AMEX:KGN) added C$0.24 to close at C$3.03 after the company reported drill results that included 10.31 grams gold per metric ton over 22 meters at its Esaase property in southwest Ghana.

Investors in junior resource stocks are eagerly anticipating the next batch of drill results with favorable ones driving the share price higher and disappointing ones causing a run for the exits. In other words, all appears to be right with the world. We shall see what Thursday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup:Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Resource Stock Roundup:Monday, July 20th, 2009

Doug Casey — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:06:50 +0000

As is the norm of late, news flow slowed to a drip during Friday trading on the Canadian Markets with the headline on the junior front being a proposed three way merger. For the tale of the tape; the TSX Exchange added 0.63%, while the TSX Gold Index tacked on 1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gave back 0.20% with the advancers beating out the decliners by a 430 to 360 margin on 176 million shares traded.

IMA Exploration (AMEX:IMR), Kobex Resources and International Barytex Resources are looking to do a three-way deal that would create a mineral exploration company with around C$44 million in cash. The merger value will be based on each company’s working capital. A rough calculation shows that IMA is worth C$0.40 per share, Kobex is worth C$0.53 per share and International Barytex about C$0.09 per share. Interestingly, IMA closed down C$0.015 at C$0.32, Kobex closed up C$0.06 at C$0.445 and Barytex closed up C$0.045 at C$0.0115.

Fancamp Exploration tabled an indicated resource of 84,000 metric tons grading 42.4% iron, 10.7% titanium dioxide, 1.6% chromium and an inferred resource of 201,000 metric tons running 42.1% iron, 10.6% titanium dioxide, 1.5% chromium on its 48.64% owned Magpie titaniferous magnetite deposit in Quebec. Fancamp closed up C$0.19 at C$0.85.

Given that it’s past the middle of July and the junior board has not rolled over, the summer trading action looks rather favorable. We shall see what Monday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup:Monday, July 20th, 2009

Resource Stock Roundup:Friday, July 10, 2009

Doug Casey — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:30:01 +0000

Commodity related stocks bounced off their recent lows and that helped the Canadian markets post gains during Thursday’s session. For the tale of the tape: the TSX Exchange rallied 1.25%, while the TSX Gold Index bounced up 0.8% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.85% with the advancers edging out the decliners by a 386 to 325 margin on a pathetic 108 million shares traded.

Union workers are becoming the star attraction for investors with Kinross Gold’s La Coipa gold mine in Chile on strike. Affected production is stated at 300 ounces of gold per day and the workers are standing by their wage demands. Kinross (NYSE:KGC) ended the session up C$0.05 at C$20.71.

Closer to home, a strike against Vale Inco in Sudbury is all but certain to begin on Monday with the contract expiring for members of United Steelworkers Local 6500. Vale is looking to trim costs from what it calls its highest cost operation and the workers are not fans of the cost cuts.

Uranium One achieved record quarterly attributable production of 833,900 pounds U308 from its Kazakhstan operations the second quarter of 2009. That’s an 18% jump over the first quarter. The company also tabled a new resource for its South Inkai mine. Total indicated resources now tally 34.1 million tonnes grading 0.053% U308 and total inferred resources came in at 42.8 million tonnes grading 0.047% U308, of which a total of 58.8 million pounds of U308 is attributable to Uranium One. The miner ended the day up C$0.18 at C$2.72.

Meanwhile shares of Ivanhoe Mines (NYSE:IVN) added C$0.38 to close at C$9.35 after the company announced that the Mongolia national parliament had voted to advanced approval discussions for the huge Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project.

Shares of Quest Uranium continued to soar on big volumes with no reported news. Rumours are that the company is attracting big player interest thanks to their Strange Lake rare earth project in Quebec. Quest ended the day up C$0.075 at C$0.50.

The summer doldrums have clearly arrived with trading volumes on the junior bourse falling to extremely modest levels. We shall see what Friday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup:Friday, July 10, 2009

Resource Stock Roundup:Thursday, July 9, 2009

Doug Casey — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:30:59 +0000

The selloff in commodity-related stocks continued with a vengeance during Wednesday trading on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape; the TSX Exchange was down 1.94%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 3.8% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, plunged 3.32% with the decliners swamping the advancers by a 593 to 248 margin on a modest 168 million shares traded.
Shares of Atac Resources gave back C$0.03 of yesterday’s C$0.19 gain to close at C$0.60. Atac reported a drill intercept of 24.07 grams gold per tonne over 28.04 metres including 5.34 metres of just over 100 grams gold per tonne from its Rau project in the Yukon.

Mercator Minerals shipped 9,091,708 pounds of copper, 418,987 pounds of molybdenum and 56,441 ounces of silver from its Mineral Park Mine in Arizona during the second quarter. In the process the company generated $5.7 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Despite the news, Mercator failed to fight the downdraft in the market as the company ended the day down C$0.08 at C$1.13.

Exeter Resource (AMEX:XRA) tabled an inferred resource of 646,000 ounces of gold equivalent, which comprises 371,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 10.5 grams gold per tonne and 19.2 million ounces of silver at a grade of 545 grams silver per tonne at its Cerro Moro project in Argentina. Exeter ended the day down C$0.21 at C$3 even.

Bucking the down trend on no new developments was Quest Uranium. Rumours are that the company is attracting big player interest thanks to their Strange Lake rare earth project in Quebec. Quest ended the day up C$0.13 at C$0.425

The falling price of oil and bullion is putting immense pressure on the resource rich Canadian markets. We shall see what Thursday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup:Thursday, July 9, 2009

Resource Stock Roundup:Friday, July 03rd, 2009

Doug Casey — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:00:52 +0000

Investors came off the Canada Day holiday in a selling mood as profit taking dominated the resource sector during Thursday trading on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange was down 1.24%, while the TSX Gold Index rebounded 0.9% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added a modest 0.06% with the decliners edging out the advancers by a 400 to 316 margin on a weak 118 million shares traded.
Consolidation in the junior exploration sector continued with Canadian Gold Hunter looking to take over African-focused Sanu Resources. Under the offer, Canadian Gold Hunter will issue 0.5725 of its shares for every Sanu share. At the end of the day, Canadian Gold Hunter will have 134,161,066 shares outstanding and Sanu shareholders will own about a 17.8 per cent stake. Canadian Gold Hunter ended the day up C$0.02 at C$0.385, while Sanu closed up C$0.025 at C$0.19.

Mano River Resources is offering 1.57 of its shares for every one African Aura Resources share. In this marriage proposal, the combined entity will have nearly C$10 million in cash, an advanced stage, high-grade gold project and a well-funded iron ore project, both in Liberia, and some promising gold and iron exploration projects in Cameroon. Mano ended the day flat at C$0.07, while African Aura closed unchanged at C$0.08.

The United States markets are closed on Friday, so expect very weak trading on the Canadian bourse. We will see what Monday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup:Friday, July 03rd, 2009

Resource Stock Roundup:Wednesday, July 01st, 2009

Doug Casey — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:29:31 +0000

Investors heading for the exits ahead of the Canada Day holiday as a sea of red engulfed the Canadian Markets during Tuesday’s session. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange down 0.97%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 2.8% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, lost 1.23% with the decliners edging out the advancers by a 413 to 361 margin on 151 million shares traded.
Shares of Denison Mines (AMEX:DNN) failed to get a lift after reporting a drill intercept of 55% U308e over 6 metres from its Phoenix East target on the Wheeler River property in northern Saskachewan. Denison ended the day down C$0.04 at C$1.93.

Shares of Western Prospector Group added C$0.18 to close at C$0.53 after the company reported that 69 per cent of its shares were tenders to the C$0.56 per share offer from CNNC International.

With holidays in both Canada and the United States taking place over the next few days, trading action is expected to remain on the light side. We will see what Thursday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup:Wednesday, July 01st, 2009

Resource Stock Roundup:Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Doug Casey — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:00:45 +0000

The bigger board resource stocks continued to ascend to higher levels but the more junior exploration stocks fell victim to a lack of buyers during Monday’s session on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 0.84%, while the TSX Gold Index tacked on 0.4% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, lost 0.54% with the decliners edging out the advancers by a 443 to 342 margin on 161 million shares traded.

North American Tungsten is temporarily suspending production form its CanTung tungsten mine in the Northwest Territories starting October 15 due to declining prices. North American ended the day down C$0.035 at C$0.125.

Fortress Minerals cut 40 metres of 3.68 grams gold per tonne at its Amy prospect in Russia. Fortress ended the day up C$0.03 at C$0.35.

Centamin Egypt has poured its first gold from the Sukari Hill gold mine in Egypt. The upstart miner is expected to produce 200,000 ounces of gold per year over a 15-year mine life. Centamin ended the day up C$0.02 at C$1.69.

B2Gold continued to ramp up its exploration presence in Nicaragua by optioning Radius Gold’s ground in that country. The company also announced a bought deal financing comprising 33.34 million shares at C$0.75 each. B2Gold closed down C$0.03 at C$0.77, while Radius added C$0.015 at C$0.20.

Shares of Sacre-Coeur Minerals added C$0.21 to close at C$0.91 after the junior reported that it is assessing the alluvial gold potential of its projects in Guyana.

Looks like the summer time doldrums may be taking hold of the exploration stocks. We will see what Tuesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup:Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Resource Stock Roundup:Monday, June 29th, 2009

Doug Casey — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:04:14 +0000

It was yet another quiet Friday trading session on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 0.33%, while the TSX Gold Index gave back 2.1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, tacked on 0.77% with the advancers edging out the decliners by a 410 to 359 margin on a weak 131 million shares traded.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT) finally came clean on its second quarter profit estimates in the wake of weak demand for potash. The world’s largest producer of potash now expects to earn $0.70 per share in the second quarter a big drop from its earlier guidance of $1.10 to $1.50. Potash ended the day down C$0.71 at C$107.34.

Western Canadian Coal saw its fourth quarter revenue rise 48 percent to C$111,684,000 from the sale of 346,000 tonnes of coal. Earnings for the period ended March 31 came in at C$47.6 million or C$0.23 per share. Western ended the day up C$0.13 at C$2.12.

The Canada Day holiday falls mid-week so trading action heading into the end of June is expected to be on the light side. We will see what Monday’s session has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup:Monday, June 29th, 2009