For the tail of the tape; the TSX Exchange fell 0.42%, while the TSX Gold Index (TSX:XGD) gave back 4.1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, dropped 1.82% with the declining issuers beating out the advancers by a 520 to 327 margin on pathetic volume of only 95 million shares traded.

In the face of high operating costs, Yukon-Nevada Gold (TSE:YNG) has decided to suspend its underground operations at its Jerritt Canyon mine in Nevada and focus on operating the profitable 4,000 ton per day mill that has been refurbished over the past six months. Yukon-Nevada ended the day down C$0.31 at C$0.54.

Aurizon Mines (AMEX:AZK) tallied earnings of $5.6 million or $0.04 per share during the second quarter on production of 36,871 ounces of gold from its Casa Berardi mine in Quebec. Aurizon ended the day down C$0.10 at C$4.17.

NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) and several of its officers have been named as defendants in a purported securities class action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleges that the company failed to disclose materially adverse facts concerning its operations and prospects in various public statements. The lawsuit comes on the heels of NovaGold halting development of its huge 50% owned Galore Creek project in British Columbia due to big capital cost increases. NovaGold ended the day down C$0.38 at C$7.06.

The junior bourse is now at levels last seen in 2005 and there appears to be no end in sight for the much beleaguered junior explorers. We will see what Monday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Saturday, August 9th, 2008

For the tail of the tape; the TSX Exchange gained 1.63%, while the TSX Gold Index (TSE:XGD) rallied 2.9% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, tacked on 0.28% with the declining issuers beating out the advancers by a 462 to 362 margin on volume of 101 million shares traded.

The big news of the day did not include any Canadian listed stocks as mining giant Xstrata (LON:XTA) made a $10 billion cash offer for Lonmin (LON:LMI), the world’s third largest platinum producer. Xstrata tabled a $33 per share bid that Lonmin says is opportunistic despite its 42% premium over Tuesday’s closing price.

Back at home, Atac Resources (CVE:ATC) appears to have tagged at its wholly owned Rau property in the central Yukon. The discovery hole returned 1.24 grams gold per tonne over 68.69 metres. The company describes the mineralization as stratabound in limestone/dolomites with assays pending for nine nearby drill holes that cut similar thicknesses of the same type of mineralization. Atac ended the session up C$0.125, at C$0.375.

Axmin (CVE:AXM) added C$0.015 to close at C$0.23 after the junior reported a 46.7 metre intercept running 3.9 grams gold per tonne at its Komahun project in Sierra Leone.

It was a good day for shareholders of Hathor Exploration (CVE:HAT) despite no new developments at its 90% owned Roughrider uranium zone in the prolific Athabasca basin of Saskatchewan. Hathor ended the session up C$0.51 to a new high of C$3.72.

Consolidation is continuing and the weakness in the resource market means only the strong will survive. We will see what Thursday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Thursday, August 7th, 2008

For the tail of the tape; the TSX Exchange dropped 0.71%, while the TSX Gold Index (TSE:XGD) lost 3.1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, tacked on 0.63% with the advancing issuers beating out the decliners by a 419 to 404 margin on a pathetic volume of 103 million shares traded.

Eldorado Gold (TSE:ELD) posted a second quarter profit of C$25.2 million, or C$0.07 per share, down from the C$26.7 million, or C$0.08 per share, tallied in the same quarter of 2007. The company produced 87,340 ounces of gold at an average cash cost of $229 an ounce, most of which was produced at its Kisladag project in Turkey. Eldorado ended the day up C$0.22 at C$8.58.

The re-logging of historic drill cores helped shares of Augen Gold (CVE:AUJ) add C$0.09, to move to C$0.44. The junior reported that re-assaying of a historic interval returned 30.23 grams gold per tonne over 1.77 metres at the Jerome gold property in northern Ontario.

Monday is a holiday for the Canadians and as such the stocks markets are closed. With interest in the more speculative stocks starting to gain traction, we will see what Tuesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Saturday, August 2nd, 2008

For the tail of the tape; the TSX Exchange gained 0.32%, while the TSX Gold Index (TSE:XGD) lost 3% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 0.84% with the declining issuers beating out the advancers by a 525 to 339 margin on pathetic volume of 105 million shares traded.

In the it’s about time camp, Teck Cominco (NYSE:TCK) finally stepped to the plate and agreed to buy out the remaining stake it does not already own in Fording Canadian Coal Trust in a total cash and stock deal worth C$14.1 billion. Under the proposal, Fording unitholders get C$82 in cash and 0.245 of a Teck Class B subordinate voting share for each Fording unit. Teck will finance the cash portion of its bid primarily with C$9.8 billion in loans arranged with a syndicate of banks, as well as with proceeds of a sale of Fording units that Teck holds. Teck ended the day up C$2.44 at C$42.85, while Fording added C$6.55 to close at C$90.35.

It was a good day for Exeter Resources (CVE:XRC) as the company reported the highest-grade intersection to date from its Cerro Moro gold-silver project in Argentina. The hot hole yielded a mind numbing 471.9 grams gold per tonne over 3.6 metres. Exeter ended the session up C$0.27 at C$3.49.

Hathor Exploration (CVE:HAT) hit basement-hosted uranium mineralization in the second and third diamond drill holes completed during the summer 2008 drill program on the Roughrider zone on its 90% owned Midwest NorthEast project. Assay results still pending. Hathor ended the day up C$0.05 at C$2.96, while 10% owner Terra Ventures (CVE:TAS) added C$0.06 at C$0.70.

Northern Freegold Resources (CVE:NFR) tagged 46.96 metres averaging 9.6 grams gold per tonne at its Freegold Mountain project in the Yukon. No one cared as Freegold ended the day unchanged at C$0.60.

With no rest for the sellers with the underlying commodity prices weakening, one has to wonder what it will take to get some serious buying back into resource stocks We will see what Wednesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

For the tail of the tape; the TSX Exchange lost 0.59%, while the TSX Gold Index (TSE:XGD) was the lone winner by adding 1.1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 0.08% with the declining issuers beating out the advancers by a 518 to 412 margin on volume of 128 million shares traded.

Well let’s see. On Friday we reported that shares of Goldsource Mines (CVE:GXS) added C$4.74 to C$8.89 on optimism that economic coal could still be found on its coal permits of the Border property near Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan. Now I am not one to call out the dogs but on Monday the company reported that it hit 23.2 metres of coal in its fifth hole on the project. Pure luck or a little leakage ahead of the news and perhaps the regulators should decide which. Goldsource ended the day up C$0.99 at C$9.88 after hitting an intraday high of C$14.65.

On the area play front, shares of Geo Minerals (CVE:GM) added C$0.055 to close at C$0.255 after the company received a letter from Saskatchewan Energy and Resources stating that of the coal permit applications will be given priority sequence.

Stocks to watch for Tuesday’s session include Hathor Exploration (CVE:HAT) and Terra Ventures (CVE:TAS). The 90-10% partners on the Roughrider uranium discovery zone in Saskatchewan were halted from trading pending news. Hathor closed at C$2.91 up C$0.06 before the halt, while Terra closed at C$0.64 for a C$0.02 loss. More drill results coming so stay tuned.

After a bit of a rest on Friday, the sellers are back using any volume generated to sell stocks. We will see what Tuesday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 0.41%, while the TSX Gold Index (TSE:XGD)dropped 0.2% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gained 0.68% with the advancing issuers edging out the decliners by a 459 to 458 margin on volume of 116 million shares traded.

Korea’s Golden Oil Corporation offered up C$0.66 per share in cash for all the shares of Kootenay Energy (CVE:KTY). The junior oil & gas players added C$0.12 to close at C$0.52.

It was a good day for Southampton Ventures, which added C$0.09 to close at C$0.24 despite no new developments. The company recently completed an 18,000-metre drill program on its 95% owned Horden Lake copper-nickel-PGE property in Quebec.

Volatility remains the name of the game for the equity markets with several pundits now calling for $100 a barrel oil, while others say $200 per barrel is in the wind. We will see what Monday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Saturday, July 19th, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange fell 0.32%, while the TSX Gold Index (TSE:XGD) dropped 1.6% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, lost 1.10% with the declining issuers continuing to swamp the advancers this time by a 523 to 414 margin on volume of 136 million shares traded.

Golden Predator Mines (TSE:GP) and Midway Gold (AMEX:MDW) have inked a deal to merge. Under the initial terms, Golden Predator shareholders would receive one Midway share for each Golden Predator share held. Midway would then change its name to Golden Predator. The move would create a company with numerous advanced projects in Nevada. Midway ended the day down C$0.03 at C$1.87, while Golden Predator was unchanged at C$1.70.

Latin American Minerals got a boost after discovering 10 diamonds, ranging in size from 0.002 to 0.04 carat, on its Capiibary diamond exploration property in northeastern Paraguay. Latin ended the day up C$0.18 at C$0.45.

Tyhee Development (CVE:TDC) says that its Yellowknife gold project in the Northwest Territories has a pre-tax net present value of $145 million and would generate a pre-tax internal rate of return of 21.3% using a gold price of $750 per oz. and a 5% discount rate. The proposed 3,000 tonne per day combined open pit and underground operation would produce 165,000 ounces of gold annually for the first seven years. Tyhee ended the day flat at C$0.415.

Shares of Medoro Resources (CVE:MRS) added C$0.01 to close at C$0.21 after the junior tabled 16.5 grams gold per tonne over 11.9 metres at its Lo Increible gold project in Venezuela.

Thoughts that the worst is over for the more speculative stocks was short lived after Thursday trading. We will see what Friday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Friday, July 18th, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange lost 0.25%, while the TSX Gold Index (TSE:XGD) surged 5.1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gained 0.34% with the declining issuers continuing to swamp the advancers this time by a 536 to 414 margin on weak volume of only 125 million shares traded.

Shares of Noront Resources (CVE:NOT) surged C$0.40 to close at C$2.72. The company recently tabled 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.

Newly minted Zinccorp Resources came out of the trading gate by announcing a silver discovery at its wholly owned Michelle property in the central Yukon. The hot hole returned 22.72% zinc, 17.38% lead and 510.7 grams silver per tonne over 7.94 metres. A 2,500 metre drill program is underway. Zinccorp ended the week up C$0.09 at C$0.32.

The big board gold miners posted a stellar day with Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) surging C$2.81 to close at C$50, Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) added C$2.66 to close at C$49, Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) ended the day up C$1.09 at C$23.77, Agnico Eagle (NYSE:AEM) added C$3.15 to close at C$77 and Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) tacked on C$1.04 to close at C$15.10.

The equities markets are looking ugly as we head into the middle of July. The gold producers got a lift on rising bullion prices but the exploration companies continue to struggle. We will see what Monday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Saturday, July 12th, 2008

For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange lost 0.90%, while the TSX Gold Index (XGD) fell 1.1% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, managed to gain 0.13% with the advancing issuers out pacing the decliners by a 438 to 415 margin on inconsequential volume of only 96 million shares traded.

Noront Resources (NOT) tabled 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. Small as expected but investors will have the week end to think about because the stock was halted from trading pending this news at C$2.70.

African Aura Resources (AAZ) gained C$0.235 to close at C$0.39. The company reported that visible gold has been seen in drill core at the Kambele project in Cameroon.

Coal continued to attract interest with shares of Gold Star Resources (GDR) adding C$0.07 to C$0.49 on news that it has received confirmation of priority status from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources regarding its recent coal permit applications.

The Canadian equity markets continue to struggle with a notable drop off in trading volume. The weak period for the more speculative resource stocks appears to be upon us and the next six weeks could well be a challenge. We will see what Monday trading has in store.

Source: Resource Stock Roundup: Monday, July 7th, 2008