For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 0.98%, while the TSX Gold Index rallied 0.4% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, ended the session up 0.22% with declining issuers still out paced the advancing issues this time by a 529 to 472 margin with slowing volume of 168 million shares traded.

The world’s largest gold miner, Barrick Gold earned $514 million, or $0.59 a share in the quarter of 2008 a 29% jump over last year’s quarter. The previously well known gold hedger received a price of $925 an ounce of gold in the quarter. Sales in the quarter rang in at $1.96 billion as the company produced 1.7 million ounces of gold at total cash costs of $393 an ounce. All was not rosy however, as this figure is down from the 2 million ounces produced in the same period of 2007 when cash costs came in at $309 an ounce. Barrick ended the day down C$0.01 at C$39.40.

Meanwhile AngloGold Ashanti fared much better after reporting earnings of $105 million for the first quarter of 2008 and production of 1.2 million ounces of gold. Total cash costs for the South African company came in at $430 per ounce and importantly, Anglo finally announced that its La Colosa project in Colombia holds an inferred resource of 12.9 million ounces of gold within 468.8 million tonnes grading 0.86 gram gold per tonne. Anglo ended the session up $3.50 in New York at C$38.31.

Shares in VMS Ventures rallied on news that the junior cut 1.09% copper over 102.5 metres at its Reed Project Discovery Zone in Manitoba. VMS ended the day up C$0.09 at C$0.60.

It was a good day for Sprott Resource as the company inked a deal with Altius to explore for potash in the St. George’s basin in southwestern Newfoundland. Under the deal, Sprott can earn a 60% stake by spending C$2.5 million over 4 years. Sprott ended the session up C$0.52 at C$3.75.

Profit taking was the story of the day for Goldsource Mines. After running up from C$0.30 to nearly C$5 per share on speculation of a major coal find in Saskatchewan, Goldsource ended the day down C$0.26 at C$4.29.

All lights were green for the Canadian markets as investors start to become believers that commodity prices won’t be falling off a cliff anytime soon. We will see what Wednesday trading has in store.