U.S. Markets Aug. 25-31

After a dramatic run-up in the three major U. S. stock indexes since early March, equities seemed to lose a little steam during the Aug. 25-31 reporting period. The S&P 500 index fell 0.72% or 7.38 points to close at 1,020.62, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.23% or 43.01 points to close at 9,496.28.

A sell-off in Chinese equities on Aug. 31 contributed to the downswing, igniting fears about the recovery of the global economy. The Shanghai composite index dropped 7% in one day (a three-month low) on worries that China may begin to rein in bank lending.

The big mining news this week came from Mongolia, where parliament passed key amendments, including the repeal effective Jan. 1, 2011 of a 68% windfall profits tax. Mongolia’s finance minister also announced that the government’s investment agreement with Ivanhoe Mines and its partner Rio Tinto on the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project would be concluded within two weeks. Oyu Tolgoi, 550 km south of Ulaanbaatar, is expected to produce an average of 440,000 tonnes copper and 320,000 oz. gold a year over about 35 years. Ivanhoe Mines’ shares surged 25.2% or US$2.21 per share to close at US$10.96.

Rio Tinto’s share price moved in the opposite direction, however, sinking US$7.35 to US$155.16 per share. On Aug. 20, the mining giant disclosed that its first-half profit tumbled 65% to US$2.5 billion, down from US$6.95 billion in the year-earlier period.Netdebt increased by $385 million over the six-month period to $39.1 billion, while a pretax break fee of US$195 million — Rio Tinto’s penalty for abandoning a US$19.5-billion deal with Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco — further blighted its balance sheet.

Collectively, gold stocks enjoyed the best run during the reporting period. Lihir Gold posted the largest value gain, rising US$2.51 to US$23.12 per share. On Aug. 26, the gold producer with operations in Papua New Guinea, Australia and West Africa reported record underlying profit of US$154.9 million for the first six months of 2009, up 130% year-on-year. Randgold Resources advanced US$1.63 to US$58.81, while AngloGold Ashanti climbed US$1.51 to US$38.42.

U. S. most active issues
	VOLUME	WEEK
	(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Alcoa* AA	122506	12.77	12.02	12.05	-0.37
Golden Eagle* MYNG	85766	0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
Freeport McMo*FCX	74321	66.68	61.50	62.98	-2.46
Hecla Mining* HL	49120	3.15	2.88	2.98	0.00
Teck B* TCK	31065	27.04	23.79	24.06	-2.37
Barrick Gold* ABX	29565	35.57	33.30	34.70	+ 0.32
PotashCSask* POT	29518	97.60	87.75	88.51	-7.76
Newmont Mng* NEM	28004	41.44	39.06	40.19	+ 0.25
Vale* VALE	26852	20.98	19.13	19.21	-1.41
Ivanhoe Mines* IVN	25690	11.58	9.10	10.96	+ 2.21

U. S. greatest percentage change
		VOLUME	WEEK
		(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Apolo Gold*	APLL	129	0.02	0.01	0.02	+100.0
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	34	0.08	0.03	0.08	+ 60.0
Industrl Mnls*	IDSM	85	0.03	0.03	0.03	+ 50.0
Entree Gold*	EGI	2774	2.48	1.72	2.18	+ 30.5
NWT Uranium*	NWURF	147	0.15	0.12	0.14	+ 27.2
Ivanhoe Mines*	IVN	25690	11.58	9.10	10.96	+ 25.2
US Energy*	USEG	1805	2.92	2.12	2.59	+ 20.4
Anooraq Res*	ANO	488	0.92	0.75	0.92	+ 17.9
Constittn Mng*	CMIN	2411	1.38	0.99	1.32	+ 17.8
Uranium Ener*	UEC	504	2.74	2.26	2.67	+ 17.1
Galloway Enrg*	GWGI	2482	0.03	0.02	0.02	-33.3
Madison Minls*	MMRSF	10	0.09	0.09	0.09	-25.0
Patriot Gold*	PGOL	56	0.27	0.20	0.21	-22.2
Thompson Crk*	TC	4866	14.73	11.42	11.50	-21.3
Colombia Gldf*	CGDF	334	0.26	0.17	0.19	-17.3
Samex Mng*	SMXMF	83	0.12	0.10	0.10	-16.6
Denison Mines*	DNN	505	1.60	1.32	1.33	-15.8
Linux Gold*	LNXGF	327	0.08	0.06	0.06	-14.2
Cornerstone C*	CTNXF	19	0.07	0.06	0.06	-14.2
Amazon Goldsd*	AZNG	33	0.15	0.13	0.13	-13.3

U. S. greatest value change
WEEK
	VOLUME	CLOSE	CHANGE
Lihir Gold* LIHR	820534	23.12	+ 2.51
Ivanhoe Mines* IVN	25690272	10.96	+ 2.21
Randgold Res* GOLD	4672691	58.81	+ 1.63
AngloGold Ash* AU	7530999	38.42	+ 1.51
Goldcorp* GG	23921477	36.46	+ 0.83
ASA (Bermuda)* ASA	130502	65.50	+ 0.65
Seabridge Gld* SA	580788	28.03	+ 0.65
Royal Gold* RGLD	2540648	39.68	+ 0.62
Agnico-Eagle* AEM	11519394	57.40	+ 0.53
Entree Gold* EGI	2773571	2.18	+ 0.51
Potash C Sask* POT	29518163	88.51	-7.76
Rio Ti nto* RTP	3959736	155.16	-7.35
Mosaic* MOS	24487231	48.47	-5.19
Alpha Nat Res* ANR	20999538	32.31	-3.71
CONSOL Energy* CNX	11993203	37.41	-3.52
Massey Energy* MEE	24653941	27.08	-3.38
Peabody Enrgy* BTU	25384645	32.68	-3.37
Thompson Crk* TC	4866400	11.50	-3.12
Intrepid Pots* IPI	1428000	23.49	-2.78
Freeport McMo* FCX	74321252	62.98	-2.46