For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange tacked on 0.08%, while the TSX Gold Index climbed 0.3% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.13% with the declining issuers beating out the advancers by a 475 to 349 margin on volume of 101 million shares traded.

Mining giant Rio Tinto showed that the diversified miners are not dead yet. The major tabled earnings of $6.9 billion in the first six months of the year. This marks a 113% jump over the same period of 2007 and should help the company fend off a $147 billion takeover offer from rival BHP Billiton. Rio ended the day up $1.60 to $381.25 in New York.

Investors digested yesterday’s news that Hathor Exploration intersected 5.3 metres of basement-hosted uranium mineralization having off-scale radioactivity readings at its 90% owned Midwest NorthEast property in Saskatchewan and decided to belatedly reward the stock. Hathor ended the day up C$0.23 at C$3.58, while 10% owner Terra Ventures added C$0.07 to close at C$0.90.

Rubicon Minerals tagged another nice hole at its Phoenix project in the Red Lake mining camp of Ontario. The hot hole yielded 891.1 grams gold per tonne over 2 metres and as a result Rubicon ended the day up C$0.35 at C$1.71.

Management of Petaquilla Copper finally gave in to the revised C$2.20 per share cash offer by Inmet Mining. Petaquilla added C$0.29 to close at C$2.18.

Early indication from the Canadian financial earnings front is that more bad news is pending and that means more lack of liquidity, which could be good news for the gold bugs. We will see what Wednesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Wednesday August 27, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange rallied 0.98%, while the TSX Gold Index added 2.7% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, tacked on a modest 0.47% with the declining issuers continuing to swamp the advancers this time by a 549 to 397 margin on abysmal volume of only 116 million shares traded.

Another problem hit Inmet Mining (IMN) at its 70% owned Las Cruces copper project in Spain, as an unexpected ground movement occurred at its newly constructed storage site for dried residue from the process plant. This will more than likely delay the development of the mine, which already faced problems in May when Spanish authorities suspended authorization for the dewatering and groundwater reinjection system. Investors did not mind the news on an up market day as Inmet closed up C$0.99 at C$64.14.

Tamerlane Ventures (TAM) cut 40.7% combined lead-zinc over 34 metres on its Pine Point property in the Northwest Territories and ended the day up C$0.05 at C$0.60.

Belvedere Resources (BEL) hit 61.49 metres running 0.59% nickel and 0.17% copper at its Hitura nickel mine in central Finland. The junior ended the day at C$1.25 for a C$0.12 gain.

Shares of Rusoro Mining (RML) added C$0.15 to C$1.20 after the company announced that it has been selected as the partner of choice by the Venezuelan Government for gold mining opportunities in that country. The Venezuelan Government also approved its previously announced acquisition of Hecla Mining’s Venezuelan assets.

Bottle roll testing of nine composite samples from the Los Planes gold zone in Mexico have returned decent values for Pediment Exploration. The average gold recovery for all the composites after 96 hours of testing was 78.5%. Not stellar but not bad either. Pediment ended the day down a penny at C$1.50.

On the uranium front, Uracan Resources (URC) added C$0.035 to close at C$0.465 after cutting 12.7 metres running 0.142% U308 from its 100-per-cent-owned Pipewrench Lake property in Saskatchewan.

Volatility seems to be the name of the game with the bears firmly in control of the longer term trend. Gold is showing signs of potentially breaking out and if so, will that be the catalyst for the beleaguered junior exploration stocks? We will see what Friday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Friday July 11, 2008

The big news of the day was Inmet (IMN) Mining’s C$320 million all-cash bid for Petaquilla Copper (PTQLF). The move allows the advancement of the Petaquilla copper property in Panama where Petaquilla Copper says it owns 52 per cent of the project but Teck Cominco  (TCK) says it earned 26% of that in March after delivering a final commitment to participate in the mine. Inmet held a 48% stake. Inmet ended the day up C$0.99 at C$64.51, while Petaquilla added C$0.98 to close at C$1.94 and Teck Cominco fell C$0.94 to C$43.38.

Shares of Noront Resources (NOT) lost C$0.08 to close at C$2.62 after investors digested the initial resource calculations for its Eagle One project in Ontario’s James Bay Lowlands. Indicated resources tally 1.834 million tonnes running 1.96% nickel, 1.18% copper, 3.91 grams palladium, 1.12 grams platinum and 0.15 gram gold per tonne. The inferred resource came in at 1.087 million tonnes grading 2.39% nickel, 1.27% copper, 4.5 grams palladium, 1.37 grams platinum and 0.13 gram gold per tonne.

Is this the beginning of a rather nasty correction in resource stocks or simply a buying opportunity? Either way the current markets are not for the faint of heart. We will see what Tuesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Tuesday, July 8, 2008