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

After much debate, Rockgate Capital and Delta Exploration have come to terms that would see Rockgate take over Delta. Under the proposal, Delta shareholders will receive 0.50 of a Rockgate share for each Delta share held. Rockgate ended the day unchanged at C$0.37, while Delta closed down C$0.005 at C$0.115.

It was a good day for Silver Bear Resources after the company reported drill results from its Mangazeisky silver project in Russia. Highlights included 1,639 grams silver per tonne over 5.6 metres. Silver Bear ended the day up C$0.05 at C$0.43.

Tarsis Capital tagged some nice holes at its Goz Creek property in the Yukon but no one cared. Highlights included 27.91 metres grading 17.19 per cent zinc and 39.67 grams silver per tonne and 27.50 metres grading 12.83 per cent zinc and 10.91 grams silver per tonne. Tarsis ended the day flat at C$0.05.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa stated that the long awaited mining bill for that country will be tabled this week. If approved, the law will lift a government ban on mining activity that started in April. On this news key country players Corriente Resources dropped C$0.04 to close at C$2.90 and Iamgold added C$0.44 at C$4.61.

Despite news of a massive injection of capital into Chinese infrastructure projects, investors remain hesitant to pile back into the resource sector. We will see what Tuesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Venezuela has finally come out and stated that it is taking over (TSE:CRY) Crystallex’s Las Cristinas gold project. The Venezuelan government aims to have it up and running next year. Crystallex fell C$0.13 to close at C$0.38.

Shares of Pure Nickel (TSE:NIC) added C$0.03 to close at C$0.10 after the company granted a Japanese firm the right to earn up to 75% of the Man property in Alaska by spending $40 million.

Atac Resources (CVE:ATC) hit 46.42 metres running 2.92 grams gold per tonne at its Rau property in the Keno Hill district of the Yukon. Atac ended the session up C$0.015 at C$0.125.

Upstart Gold Wheaton(CVE:GLW) tabled a third quarter loss of $2.3 million on the sale of 10,804 ounces of gold. At the end of the quarter the company had some $67 million in cash. Gold Wheaton ended the day unchanged at C$0.38.

The election of a historical new president in the United States was not reason enough for a stock market rally. The winning streak for the junior bourse ended at six but there still appears to be more buy side interest then we have seen in several months. We will see what Thursday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup…Thursday, November 06th, 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 lost 0.95%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 6.80% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 4.04% with the advancing issuers swamping the decliners by a 483 to 368 margin on volume of 161 million shares traded.

Goldcorp tabled third quarter earnings of $297 million or $0.42 per share thanks to a big foreign exchange gain and stronger gold prices. Taking out the $240 million foreign exchange gain, profit fell to $64.7 million or $0.09 a share, from $82.3 million, or $0.12 a share in the same period in 2007. Goldcorp ended the day down C$1.98 at C$22.54.

High River Gold Mines (HRG) moved a step closer to bankruptcy after announcing that delays in getting its Taparko-Bouroum mine into commercial production has put one of its subsidiaries in breach of its financial covenants. Financial problems also put plans to purchase remaining 50 per cent of Prognoz silver project in Russia off until at least the end of November. High River ended the day down C$0.03 at C$0.11.

It was a good day on no news for Midway Gold (MDW). The company is currently raising C$2.75 million priced at C$0.22 per unit, which holds one share and one C$0.28 warrant. Midway ended the day up C$0.17 at C$0.47.

Investors in the more speculative exploration stocks are breathing a sigh of relief because buyers appear to be back bottom feeding in the sector. We will see what Monday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Monday, November 3, 2008

Sherritt International posted third quarter earnings of $133.1 million, or $0.45 per share, up from the $65.4-million or $0.28 per share tallied in the same period a year earlier. Falling commodity prices have the company looking at reducing its capital spending. Sherritt ended the day up C$0.53 at C$4.60.

The fifth set of diamond results from underground bulk sampling of the Orion South kimberlite, within the Fort a La Corne joint venture in Saskatchewan resulted in the recoveries of 330.54 carats from 2,809.11 dry tonnes of kimberlite. The largest stone tallied 15.86 carats. Shore Gold, with a 60% interest in the project closed flat at C$0.57.

Trading below cash in the till, Western Uranium got a boost after announcing a 1.5 metre drill intercept running 12 grams gold per tonne at its Kings Valley uranium project in Nevada. Western ended the session at C$0.80 for a C$0.20 gain.

Stornoway Diamond came out with a positive economic study on its 50% owned Foxtrot property in north-central Quebec. The Renard pipe hosts 11.6 million indicated tonnes grading 60 carats per hundred tonnes plus another 7.2 million inferred tonnes grading 63 carats per hundred tonnes. Stornoway ended the day up C$0.04 at C$0.14.

Nevsun Resources added C$0.19 to close at C$0.65 as a falling United States dollar had investors thinking that Nevsun’s Bisha gold rich massive sulphide in Eritrea was undervalued.

The junior market may have formed a bottom at around the 800 point mark with the United States Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 0.5%, which helped boost commodity prices. We will see what Thursday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Andean Resources came out with a prefeasibility study for its Cerro Negro high-grade gold and silver project in Argentina. The study envisions production of 350,000 ounces of gold per year with cash costs ringing in at $198 per ounce generating an internal rate of return of 40%. The probable reserves stand at 7.2 million tonnes running 6.4 grams gold and 75 grams silver per tonne. Andean ended the day down C$0.02 at C$0.48.

On the merger front, Richmont Mines is offering up C$0.15 in cash and 0.055 of a Richmond share for each Patricia Mining share. The deal is valued at a modest C$17 million. Richmont ended the session down C$0.04 at C$1.81, while Patricia closed at C$0.20 for a C$0.085 gain.

Low metal prices have prompted Breakwater Resources to suspend operations at both the Langlois mine in Quebec and the Myra Falls mine in British Columbia. Breakwater ended the session unchanged at C$0.95.

Shareholders elected to take profit in Cardero Resource a day after the company inked a deal to sell its Pampa de Pongo iron property in Peru. Cardero ended the day down C$0.15 at C$1.71.

News that the CH-2 and CH-3 kimberlites on Baffin island in Nunavut contain diamonds propelled Peregrine Diamonds C$0.05 higher to close at C$0.275.

The junior market is down more than 75% from its May 2007 top and this type of loss formed the bottom for the 1987 and 1996 market meltdowns. We will see what Wednesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup Wednesday, October 29, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 1.03%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 4.1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, lost 4.73% with the declining issuers out pacing the advancers by a 650 to 266 margin on volume of 190 million shares traded.

Teck Cominco (NYSE:TCK) tabled earnings of C$432 million, or C$0.97 per share in the third quarter of 2008, compared with C$495 million, or C$1.16 per share tallied in the same period a year earlier. The bottom line was hit by lower copper and zinc prices with higher coal operating profits limiting the impact. Teck ended the day down C$1.78 at C$12.54.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT) saw its third quarter earnings increase five fold to C$1.24 billion, or C$3.93 per share. To put things in perspective, that exceeded the C$1.1-billion earned in the entire 2007. Potash ended the day up C$3.07 at C$85.99.

Shares of one time high-flyer Noront Resources (CVE:NOT) continued to free fall, dropping C$0.28 to close at C$0.66. The company is in the midst of a proxy fight and just tabled a positive scoping study for development of its Eagle One copper-nickel-platinum deposit in Ontario.

Augusta Resource (AMEX:AZC) tabled a new resource calculation and better metallurgy results from its Rosemont copper project in Southern Arizona. The recovery for molybdenum came in at 70-75%, silver recovery was 80-82% and copper recoveries tallied 84-86%. Augusta closed down C$0.06 at C$1.45.

New Gold produced 68,801 ounces of gold at total cash costs of $566 per ounce in the third quarter. Silver output hit 282,055 ounces and copper production was 2.37 million pounds. New Gold ended the day down C$0.45 at C$1.28.

Things could get awfully dicey for the junior exploration stocks with tax loss season drawing ever closer in a weak liquidity environment. Keep your hard hats on and we will see what Friday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Friday, October 24th, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange rallied 1.2%, while the TSX Gold Index tacked on 0.8% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.2% with the advancing issuers out pacing the decliners by a 561 to 491 margin on good volume of 276 million shares traded.

Kadywood Capital and FNX Mining have inked a deal that has Kadywood buying for C$400 million 50% of the contained gold, platinum and palladium metal in ore mined and shipped from multiple FNX operations in Ontario. Kadywood intends to change its name to Gold Wheaton and is looking to raise C$200 million. The company also announced a deal to purchase 100 per cent of the life-of-mine gold production from the Tulsequah Chief mine in British Columbia from Redcorp Ventures. Kadywood ended the day up C$0.31 at C$0.90, Redcorp added C$0.025 to close at C$0.23 and FNX added C$1.66 to close at C$25.11.

Potash remained hot, as evidenced by investor reaction to Alix Resources and Geo Minerals news that the pair has acquired the exclusive potash rights to a total of 84 assorted locations of freehold minerals in Saskatchewan. Geo ended the day up C$0.225 at C$0.49, while Alix added C$0.18 at C$0.50.

The junior bourse may well be heading into its traditional summer slumber but the trading volumes suggest that we could have a rather active next few months. We will see what Monday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Saturday, June 14th, 2008