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

Shares of Kaminak Gold added C$0.055 to close at C$0.18 after the junior announced that it picked up an option to earn 100 per cent in three projects located in the White Gold area of the Yukon.

Moly miner Roca Mines added C$0.065 to close at C$0.40 on no new developments.

Charles Fipke-led Metalex Ventures reported that the third vertical hole drilled on a kimberlite discovery in Angola hit kimberlite at 12.2 metres depth and the drill is still in primary kimberlite at 141.8 metres depth. Metalex is hoping that the eroded parts of this pipe are the source of the abundant high-quality alluvial diamonds being mined downstream. Metalex ended the day up C$0.10 at C$0.69.

On the copper front, shares of Anvil Mining added C$0.26 to close at C$1.39 after the company closed a C$34.5 million financing priced at C$1.15 per share. The funds will be used on its Kinsevere copper mine project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Phoscan Chemicals surged C$0.10 to C$0.43 on no new developments. The cash rich company holds the Martison phosphate property in Ontario.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) has agreed to take down 10 million of the 14 million shares of Fortress Minerals being offered at C$0.25 per share. The proceeds will be used on the Svetloye gold Project in Far Eastern Russia. Fortress ended the day up C$0.06 at C$0.35.

A rising tide lifts all boats seems to be the saying of the day. The euphoria has junior exploration companies once again talking about spinning off assets to unlock value. This suggests that the go-go mentality is coming back into the sector….perhaps way too soon. Unemployment numbers for Canada and the United States are due to be released on Friday so some caution is warranted. We shall see what Tuesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup:Tuesday, May 05th, 2009

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT) tabled first quarter earnings of $308.3 million or $1.02 per share down from the $566 million or $1.74 per share tallied in the first quarter of 2008. Prices for potash actually rose during the quarter but demand fell by 86 per cent. Potash ended the day down C$2.91 at C$97.49.

Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) reported a first quarter loss of C$189 million or C$0.20 per share with output hitting 278,000 barrels per day during the first three months of the year. The second-largest oil sands producer, which is in the midst of a merger with Petro Canada (NYSE:PCZ), added C$0.86 on the day to close at C$30.33.

Fortress Minerals came out with an inferred resource of 5.975 million tonnes grading 2.43 grams gold per tonne at its Amy prospect on the Svetloye gold project in the Russian Far East. Fortress ended the day up C$0.075 at C$0.315.

Upstart gold miner Avion Resources produced 6,211 ounces of gold during the six weeks since beginning production in Mali. The cash cost per ounce of gold for the year is currently projected to be $505 per ounce. Avion ended the session up C$0.005 at C$0.30.

Shares of Chariot Resources added C$0.005 to close at C$0.295 after the company reported a positive feasibility study for the Mina Justa project located on its 70-per-cent-owned Marcona copper property in Peru. Using $2 per pound for copper, the pretax net present value comes in at $616.2 million at a discount rate of 8 per cent. The internal rate of return is 19.9 per cent and the cash operating cost over the life of the mine is $0.885 per pound of payable copper.

A stock to watch is beaten-down nickel player Belvedere Resources. Shares in the company were halted pending news at C$0.12.

The market is defying all the economic data and without verification that the earnings picture will improve, a selloff is in the cards at some point. We shall see what Friday trading has in store.

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

A clear sign that the mineral sector is depressed was the investor reaction to a 111.2 metre drill intercept running 19.39 grams gold per tonne tabled by Fortress Minerals on its Amy prospect in Russia. Even once the interval was cut to 30 grams gold per tonne for any value over 30 grams gold, the interval still ran 3.33 grams gold per tonne. Not good enough in this environment, as Fortress ended the day up only C$0.04 at C$0.23.

It was another bad news day for investors of Buffalo Gold. The junior announced that its agreement with China Railway Group to invest in the company was terminated and the assets of Buffalo’s 90% owned Sardinia Gold Mines will be placed in liquidation. To top things off, CEO Brian McEwen will be replaced by Damien Reynolds. Buffalo ended the day down C$0.015 at C$0.015.

Ivanhoe Mines (NYSE:IVN) discovered a new high-grade gold and copper zone at its Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia. A deep drilling program cut 369.3 metres averaging 0.53% copper and 0.83 gram gold per tonne. Ivanhoe ended the day up C$0.58 at C$3 even.

Shares of Great Basin Gold (AMEX:GBN) added C$0.12 to close at C$1.09 after the company announced a deal with Metallic Ventures Gold to buy Metallic’s Esmeralda processing plant in Nevada, along with the Esmeralda mine and infrastructure for $2 million.

Despite the overall rally, the junior bourse remains stuck under the 700 point mark and in a vulnerable position given that the tax loss season is still ongoing. We will see what Tuesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Tuesday, December 9th, 2008