TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE AUG. 12-18

The TSX Composite Index continued its decline over the Aug. 12-18 trading period falling another 83.82 points, or 0.6%, to 13,119.37.

Low commodity prices continued to hold back resources stocks, though the Capped Metals and Mining Index did gain 8.95 points, up 1.3%, to 678.88.

The Global Gold Index also rebounded with a 4.54-point advance to 264.53. Spot gold sunk to an eight-month low of US$785 per oz. on Aug 15 but recovered to US$798.78 by the end of the period even as the U. S. dollar climbed to a six-month high against several other global currencies.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan was the top value gainer over the period, rising $9.59 per share to $181.14 after being the top loser in the previous period. The company has been dealing with striking workers at several operations. On Aug. 15, Potash Corp. posted the United Steel Workers Union proposal that showed journeymen, senior operators and labourmen asking for wage increases of up to 318% over a three-year period to $244-276,000 per year. No agreement has been made.

First Quantum Minerals shares were up $9.21 to $65.60. The company reported net earnings of US$208 million for the second quarter and US$390 million for the first half of 2008. The company expects to produce a total of 310,000 tonnes of copper in 2008 from its projects in Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritania.

Cameco saw its shares fall $3.39 apiece to $30.46. The company ran into more trouble at its Cigar Lake uranium mine in Saskatchewan. Production was once supposed to start in 2007 but a major flood pushed start up estimates to 2011. Water is flowing into shaft one quicker than it can be pumped out. It’s not yet known how much this will affect the company’s timeline.

Strategic Resources Acquisition (SRA) was the biggest loser on a percentage basis over the period. Shares fell 79% to 8 apiece. A year ago shares peaked around $6.70. The company hasn’t been able to ramp up production at its Mid-Tennessee zinc mine complex as quickly as planned. This has had a drastic impact on cash costs, which are more than twice that of today’s zinc price, in the mid- US70 per-lb.-range.

Another penny stock, Blue Note Mining, was the most actively traded over the period with 63.7 million shares changing hands and shares falling 3 to 5 apiece. The company lost $12.7 million over the second quarter but still had a cash and short-term investment position of $18.4 million after investing $3.3 million in mining and exploration activities such as at its recently-started 3,000-tonne-per-day Caribou zinc-lead mine in New Brunswick. Jaguar Financial also announced that it had acquired another 8.5% of Blue Note shares bringing its total interest to 11.3%. The company is also involved in a lawsuit with Breakwater Resources over a 10% net profit interest for Caribou production.

TSX most active issues
	VOLUME		WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Blue Note Mng BN	63794	0.08	0.04	0.05	-0.03
Eastern Platin ELR	35699	1.65	1.32	1.34	-0.08
Yamana Gold YRI	32428	11.83	10.26	10.75	+ 0.20
Kinross Gold K	29151	17.75	15.61	16.43	+ 0.28
Goldcorp G	24408	35.63	31.15	32.35	+ 0.42
Barrick Gold ABX	23855	37.75	33.76	35.06	+ 0.06
Uranium One UUU	22223	3.83	3.27	3.73	+ 0.31
Grande Cache C GCE	15017	6.63	4.33	5.11	-1.21
Redcorp Vent RDV	14678	0.16	0.10	0.14	+ 0.01
Orsu Metals OSU	13554	0.59	0.48	0.55	+ 0.05

TSX greatest percentage change
		VOLUME		WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Carlisle Goldf	CGJ	186	0.07	0.05	0.05	+ 66.6
Sierra Minls	SIM	19	0.26	0.17	0.26	+ 36.8
Nevada Copper	NCU	287	1.70	1.36	1.69	+ 24.2
Crystallex Int	KRY	2647	1.00	0.77	0.96	+ 23.0
Genco Res	GGC	440	1.30	0.94	1.30	+ 22.6
San Anton Res	SNN	271	0.28	0.22	0.28	+ 21.7
Golden Queen	GQM	170	0.73	0.43	0.52	+ 20.9
Excellon Res	EXN	1444	0.91	0.67	0.88	+ 18.9
Sprott Res	SCP	4990	3.20	2.43	3.13	+ 16.7
Goldstake Exp	GXP	427	0.09	0.06	0.07	+ 16.6
Strategic Res	SRZ	4355	0.45	0.08	0.08	-79.4
Yukon-Nev Gold	YNG	4610	0.42	0.12	0.12	-70.7
Asbestos Corp	AB	39	3.00	1.25	1.25	-58.3
Birch Mountn	BMD	839	0.34	0.13	0.15	-50.0
African Copper	ACU	1660	0.45	0.27	0.27	-40.0
Timminco	TIM	12783	16.00	12.15	12.28	-38.5
Blue Note Mng	BN	63794	0.08	0.04	0.05	-37.5
Pac NW Cap	PFN	360	0.26	0.16	0.17	-37.0
Bannerman Res	BAN	1735	1.35	0.90	0.90	-34.3
Cline Mng	CMK	2000	0.93	0.62	0.65	-29.3

TSX greatest value change
WEEK
		VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Potash Cp Sask	POT	6943247	181.14	+ 9.59
First Quantum	FM	2280996	65.60	+ 9.21
Labdr I-Ore Ro	LIF_U	613932	54.01	+ 7.51
Agnico-Eagle	AEM	6060429	54.94	+ 5.94
Agrium	AGU	5746176	85.57	+ 5.63
Inmet Mining	IMN	1254245	58.54	+ 4.61
Fording C C T	FDG_U	5429173	92.50	+ 3.40
Major Drilling	MDI	790410	40.05	+ 2.96
North Am En Pa	NOA	25827	16.84	+ 1.63
Royal Gold	RGL	26553	35.55	+ 1.59
Timminco	TIM	12783394	12.28	-7.69
Cameco Corp	CCO	10309198	30.46	-3.39
IShCOMEXGTr	IGT	30164	84.02	-2.70
Asbestos Corp	AB	39250	1.25	-1.75
GrandeCacheC	GCE	15016656	5.11	-1.21
Central Gold-T	GTU_U	21105	32.50	-1.02
Silver Std Res	SSO	444986	25.51	-0.99
Mag Silver	MAG	594646	7.53	-0.97
Central Fund	CEFA	815687	10.85	-0.91
Detour Gold	DGC	844204	14.50	-0.90