HudBay Minerals and Lundin Mining have agreed to join forces in an effort to fight the current downtrend. Under the proposal, Lundin shareholders will get 0.3919 of a Hudbay share for each Lundin share held. Hudbay ended the day down C$2.07 at C$3.16, while Lundin added C$0.04 to close at C$1.05.

Finally, a sign that there is equity financing out there for the right deal, Red Back Mining has entered into a bought deal comprising 17.15 million shares at C$3.50 a piece for a cool C$60.02 million. Red Back ended the day up C$0.60 at C$4.60.

Osisko Mining continues to hit the goods at the South Barnat zone near is its Canadian Malartic deposit in Quebec. The latest results included 185.2 metres grading 1.97 grams gold per tonne. Osisko ended the day up C$0.13 at C$1.70.

Shares of Katanga Mining added C$0.01 to C$0.39 after reporting that the depressed price of cobalt has resulted in the temporarily suspension of mining operations at the Tilwezembe open pit and ore processing at the Kolwezi concentrator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The trading week ended on a positive note with news of a large equity financing indicating there is money out there that will to be put to work for the right assets. We will see what Monday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Monday, November 24th, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 4.82%, while the TSX Gold Index rallied 12.9% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, lost 1.08% with the declining issuers outpacing the advancers by a 494 to 288 margin on volume of 152 million shares traded.

Shares of copper miner Anvil Mining got slammed after the company reported a third quarter loss of $17.3 million or $0.24 per share, compared with a profit of $39.1 million or $0.55 per share in the same period of 2007. Falling copper prices, political uncertainty and operational issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo all impacted the bottom line. The company also does not have enough funds to complete the development of the stage II solvent extraction-electrowinning plant at its Kinsevere project. Anvil ended the day down C$0.46 at C$0.62.

Sherwood Copper tagged 3.6% copper over 10.5 metres at its advanced Kutcho project in northwestern British Columbia. The miner closed out the session at C$1.49, for a C$0.01 gain.

Roxmark Mines cut 1.68% molybdenum over 0.7 metres at its vein No. 3 target on the Nortoba-Tyson property in Ontario. Roxmark ended the day up C$0.01 at C$0.06.

The intraday swings on the order of 10% make this a very nasty market to trade indeed. Longer term it looks like a firm bottom has yet to be established with the junior bourse hitting new intraday lows before recovering. We will see what Friday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Friday, November 14, 2008

Silver Wheaton posted a 5% jump in third-quarter profit to $20.2 million, or $0.08 per share. Silver sales tallied 2.7 million ounces at cash costs of $3.93 per ounce, down from 3.1 million in the same period a year earlier. The company lowered its 2008 sales projections to 11.4 million ounces, from 13-15 million ounces previously envisioned. Silver Wheaton ended the day up C$0.13 at C$4.33.

Rockwell Diamonds got its wish with Pala Investments Holdings pulling its hostile takeover offer for the diamond miner. Rockwell ended the day down C$0.075 at C$0.13.

Shares of GobiMin got a pop after the company announced the sale of three nickel-copper projects in China to Xinjiang Xinxin Mining Industry for a cool $87.5 million. GobiMin ended the day up C$0.24 at C$0.68.

Shares of Hathor Exploration continued to bounce off its recent lows by adding C$0.44 to close at C$2.24. The junior is outlining the MidWest NorthEast uranium deposit in Saskatchewan.

Goldsource Mines added C$0.45 to close at C$2.14 on no new developments. The company is working the Border coal property in Saskatchewan. High River Gold Mines continued to fall into the abyss. The financially plagued miner ended the day down C$0.04 at C$0.07.

The first trading day of November brought no surprises with traders awaiting the outcome of the United States Presidential election before placing big bets. We will see what Tuesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Tuesday, November 4, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange fell 0.69%, while the TSX Gold Index gave back 2% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, dropped 0.16% with the declining issuers out pacing the advancers by a 534 to 471 margin on more normal volume of 222 million shares traded.

Shares in Potash North Resource finally took a rest after a string of positive sessions. The company dropped C$0.86 to close at C$3.20.

Another potash player, Raytec Metals announced a C$17 million financing comprising 10 million units at C$1.20 per unit and 3,571,500 flow-through common shares at a price of C$1.40 per flow-through share. A unit holds one share and one warrant, which is exercisable at C$1.60 for a period of two years. Raytec ended the day down C$0.20 at C$1.62.

On a percentage basis, it was a good day for the beleaguered shareholders of Constellation Copper. The financially troubled company got a boost after Jaguar Financial and an unidentified partner announced that they now hold a 9.9% equity position in Constellation and that they had made a restructuring proposal. Constellation ended the day up C$0.03 at C$0.06.

Hathor Exploration closed its C$15 million bought deal financing at C$3 per share and is now cashed up to advance the roughrider uranium zone in Saskatchewan. Hathor ended the day up C$0.27 at C$2.90.

A stock to watch is Redcorp Ventures. Shares in the junior, best known for its advanced Tulsequah Chief massive sulphide project in British Columbia and its problems with getting trapped in the asset backed commercial paper market, was halted pending news at C$0.205.

The junior bourse is feeling a little overextended with good trading volumes not pushing the market higher. Is it the calm before the storm? We will see what Friday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Friday, June 13, 2008 

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange surged 1.99%, while the TSX Gold Index gained 2.7% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.53% with the advancing issuers beating the advancers by a 549 to 518 margin on good volume of nearly 225 million shares traded.

Fronteer Development Group says its 100%-owned Northumberland gold project in Nevada holds a measured and indicated resource of 2.44 million ounces, plus an inferred resource comprising 0.82 million ounces. This marks a 28% jump over the previous estimate. Fronteer ended the day up C$0.52 at C$5.29.

Shares in Potash North Resource continued to soar following news that the Saskatchewan Mines Branch has issued a potash permit covering 91,000 acres. The company added C$0.53 to Wednesdays’ C$1.34 surge to close at C$2.07.

Northern Freegold Resources tacked on C$0.025 to close at C$0.50 after reporting a 168.3 foot intercept running 0.94 grams gold and 56.1 grams silver per tonne at the Burro Creek property in northwestern Arizona.

No news was good news for VMS Ventures as shares in the junior added C$0.12 to close at C$0.87. Perhaps more drill results are pending from its Reed Lake discovery zone in Manitoba.

A stock to watch is X-Terra Resources. Shares in the company recently surged on news that the application permits for over 120,000 hectares of share permits in Quebec would be processed shortly. X-Terra was halted from trading pending news at C$2.21, up C$0.13 prior to the halt.

A bit of a relief rally helped lift the spirit of beaten down resource investors. Will it continue? We will see what Friday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Friday, June 06, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange lost 0.58%, while the TSX Gold Index gave back 1.6% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 0.44% with the declining issuers swamping the advancers by a 562 to 466 margin on volume of nearly 218 million shares traded.

Silver Wheaton stepped up to the plate and has agreed to buy 50% of the life of mine silver at Aurcana’s 80% owned La Negra mine in Mexico. The price tag is an upfront cash payment of $25 million. Aurcana ended the day up C$0.06 at C$0.64.

It was a good session for shareholders of X-Terra Resources as the junior applied for shale licenses in Quebec. The junior received a letter from the Ministry of Natural Resources to confirm the application permits for over 120,000 hectares. X-Terra ended the day up C$0.73 at C$2.21.

Shares of Buchans River added C$0.04 to close at C$0.225 after the company announced a drill intercept of 6.64% zinc, 3.01% lead, 0.65% copper, 15.06 grams silver and 0.11 grams gold per tonne on the Lundberg zone in Newfoundland.

Radius Gold has inked a deal with Kappes, Cassiday & Associates to develop the high-grade Tambor gold deposit in Guatemala. The agreement envisions an initial 150 tonne per day operation from both underground and surface pits. Kappes can earn a 51% interest in the project by spending $6.5 million over four years or by putting the project into production. Radius ended the day up C$0.05 at C$0.32.

Newmont Mining put itself on the brink of bidding for Gabriel Resources after buying an additional 1.5% equity stake in the company on the open market. That gives Newmont 19.9%, just a tad less than the 20% threshold that would trigger a mandatory offer. Gabriel ended the day down C$0.04 at C$2.86.

Gold took one on the chin as it made a run at the $900 per ounce mark but failed to break through. We will see what Wednesday trading has in store.
Source: Resource Stock Roundup Wednesday, June 4, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange gained 0.68%, while the TSX Gold Index rallied 1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 0.19% with the declining issuers inching past the advancers by a 554 to 520 margin on robust volume of nearly 291 million shares traded.

Shares of Solex Resources got a boost after the company announced that its Princesa project in Peru hosts an inferred resource of 4.6 million tonnes running 90.88 grams silver per tonne, plus 1.66% lead and 1.69% zinc. Solex ended the day up C$0.05 at C$0.315.

Crystallex International got word from the Director General in the Administrative Office of Permits at the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources of Venezuela that their legal rebuttal has been denied. The news was already priced into the stock however as Crystallex ended the day up C$0.04 at C$0.84.

Antares Minerals rallied following news that the company cut 0.6% copper and 0.57 gram gold per tonne over 146 metres at the Rio Grande copper-gold project in northwestern Argentina. Antares ended the session up C$0.13 at C$3.88.

News that Stealth Ventures closed a C$22 million financing to fund work on its shale gas project helped propel its stock C$0.15 higher to close at C$0.98.

Brett Resources closed its deal with Kinross to earn 100% of the Hammond Reef gold project in Ontario. Brett issued 14 million shares and Kinross gets to keep a 2% net smelter royalty. Brett closed up C$0.06 at C$0.95, while Kinross added C$0.30 to close at C$20.12.

It was a lackluster start to June for the more speculative stocks but with the price of bullion once again showing signs of life it is only a matter of time before there is a feed down effect. We will see what Tuesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Tuesday, June 3, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange gained 0.94%, while the TSX Gold Index rallied 2.9% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, tacked on 1.08% with the advancing issuers outpacing the decliners by a 620 to 451 margin on good volume of over 237 million shares traded.

Golden Predator Mines and Fury Explorations are looking to merge in a deal that would see Fury shareholders get 1/3 of a Golden Predator share plus a warrant priced at C$3.35. The move would consolidate Golden Predator’s land position in Nevada. Fury ended the day up C$0.03 at C$0.63, while Golden Predator added C$0.01 at close at C$1.86.

It was a good day for shareholders of Whistler Gold. The company inked a letter of intent to acquire a 90% interest in the Beregovo and Kvasovo gold-lead-zinc licences in southwest Ukraine. The price tag is C$6-million and 2.5 million shares. Whistler ended the day up C$0.24 at C$0.64.

Sherwood Copper generated $16.9 million in cash flow from its Minto copper-gold mine in the Yukon during the first three months of 2008. The company sold 7.1 million pounds of copper, 3,950 ounces of gold and 25,016 ounces of silver in the quarter. Sherwood ended the day down C$0.08 at C$5.40.

Strategic Metals posted its sixth consecutive positive quarter by reporting income of C$227,274 for the quarter ended March 31, 2008. The project generator, which earned C$6.7 million in 2007, now has working capital north of C$20 million. Strategic ended the session up C$0.03 at C$0.61.

The volatility appears to back on the Canadian markets with stock selection holding the key to success or failure. We will see what Monday trading has in store.

Current Market Indices:

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Saturday, May 31, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange tacked on 0.86%, while the TSX Gold Index took it on the chin by dropping 3.6% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, ended the session down 0.72% with declining issues out pacing the advancers by a 584 to 471 margin on good volume of nearly 206 million shares traded.

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa came out and stated that Ecuador will suspend large-scale mining exploration projects while a new mining law is approved to regulate the sector. The time frame is estimated at six months and the overall outcome of a new mining law is unknown. This raked the Ecuadorian explorers, most notably Aurelian Resources, which fell C$2.32 to close at C$5.04 and Corriente Resources, which halted its shares from trading pending news that it will analyze the situation. Prior to the halt Corriente dropped C$0.50 to close at C$4.10.

European Minerals is looking to gobble up Lero Gold in a move aimed at forming a well-financed gold-copper mining and production, development and exploration company with an exciting growth profile in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Under the deal, Lero shareholders get one share of European Minerals for each share held. European ended the day up C$0.11 at C$0.91, while Lero dropped C$0.09 to close at C$0.85.

With the exception of the Ecuador bombshell, it was an extremely quiet news day to end the trading week as solid commodity prices off set the bad news from Ecuador. We will see what Monday trading has in store.