U.S. Markets (July 31, 2006)

Mining equities were mostly lower in an otherwise rallying U.S. stock market over the reporting period July 18-24. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 26.42 points, or 2.1%, to 1,260.91, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.8% over the same period, thanks to comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Bank chairman Ben Bernanke that suggested the Fed was ready to end the current tightening cycle of interest rates.

But Bernanke’s calm about inflation wasn’t good for the gold price, which slid almost US$40 to US$605.70 per oz. in the same period. That also pulled the U.S. gold indices lower, with the Philadelphia XAU falling 3.2% to 135.66 and the Amex Gold Miners 2% to 996.42.

If there was a broad trend among the base metal miners, it was that the offshore companies gained ground while North American companies lost it. The big four base metal companies were all better: BHP Billiton rose US$1.13 to US$42.32, Rio Tinto added US$5.80 to finish at US$199.68, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce rose US39 to US$22.14 and Anglo American US72 to US$19.77.

By comparison, Phelps Dodge was down US27 at US$76.68 and Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold slid US57 to US$51. Base-metal refiner OM Group touched a new high of US$35.74 before settling at US$34.22, up US$3.12 for the period.

The golds had fewer bright spots; except for Canadian interlistings, only AngloGold Ashanti, up US70 at US$47.04, and Minas Buenaventura, up US$1.32 at US$26.46, showed gains among the gold producers. Gold Fields fell US$2.46 to US$20.89, Newmont Mining dipped US$1.74 to US$51.02, and Harmony Gold Mining slid US88 to US$14.08.

It was no better in the middle tier, with Randgold Resources down US67 at US$20.69, Lihir Gold off US$2.22 at US$41.03, and Coeur d’Alene Mines down US11 at US$4.53. Among the juniors, U.S. Gold gained a dime to finish at US$7.85.

In the coal sector, Massey Energy, down US$1.91 at US$29.52 and Alpha Natural Resources, down US47 to US$16.05, both touched new lows during the period, as did International Coal Group, which finished US9 higher at US$6.32.

U.S. most active issues

		VOLUME	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
AuGrid*	AUGC	151190	0.00	1.0E8	0.00	0.00
UNICO Inc*	UNCN	145770	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.00
Goldspring*	GSPG	94193	0.014	0.01	0.01	-0.00
CVRD*	RIO	26702	23.35	21.25	22.14	+0.39
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	24654	53.91	44.00	45.65	-5.96
Newmont Mng*	NEM	22041	54.17	49.53	51.02	-1.74
Alcoa*	AA	21948	31.32	29.10	29.74	-0.48
Phelps Dodge*	PD	20406	82.00	75.12	76.68	-0.27
Freeport McMo*	FCX	18629	55.00	47.58	51.00	-0.57
Silverado*	SLGLF	16843	0.07	0.054	0.066	-0.003

U.S. greatest percentage change

		VOLUME(000s)	HIGH	LOW	CLOSE	CHANGE
Commerce Grp*	CGCO	12	0.105	0.058	0.105	+98.1
Brookmount Ex*	BMXI	226	0.11	0.07	0.11	+57.1
NovaGold Res*	NG	6097	15.64	11.53	15.50	+30.4
Apolo Gold*	APLL	422	0.125	0.08	0.111	+23.3
Diamond Discv*	DMDD	3492	0.019	0.011	0.018	+20.0
Global Gold*	GBGD	32	2.00	1.75	1.95	+11.4
Tara Gold*	TRGD	1307	0.40	0.33	0.38	+10.1
OM Group*	OMG	3069	35.74	30.91	34.22	+10.0
Douglas Lk Ml*	DLKM	155	1.50	1.10	1.32	+9.0
Inco Ltd*	N	11153	72.77	66.60	72.13	+7.9
Golden Eagle*	MYNG	9939	0.015	0.011	0.012	-29.4
Fischer-W Gld*	FWGO	264	0.10	0.07	0.07	-26.3
Lafayette Mng*	LYMGF	105	0.07	0.07	0.07	-22.2
Shoshone Silv*	SHSH	24	0.19	0.16	0.16	-20.0
Liberty Star*	LBTS	659	1.01	0.70	0.76	-18.6
Pac Gold*	PCFG	1136	0.37	0.29	0.30	-16.6
IMA Expl*	IMR	1123	0.64	0.44	0.50	-16.6
Cardero Res*	CDY	136	1.94	1.63	1.63	-16.4
Queenstake Rs*	QEE	4968	0.36	0.31	0.31	-16.2
DRDGOLD*	DROOY	11230	1.56	1.25	1.30	-14.4

U.S. greatest value change

		VOLUME(000s)	CLOSE	CHANGE
Rio Tinto*	RTP	1914600	199.68	+5.80
Soc Quim&M Ch*	SQM	93500	102.46	+5.74
Inco Ltd*	N	11152900	72.13	+5.33
Potash C Sask*	POT	2692200	87.59	+4.87
NovaGold Res*	NG	6096600	15.50	+3.62
OM Group*	OMG	3068900	34.22	+3.12
Alcan*	AL	4806100	44.87	+1.63
BHP Billi-BBL*	BBL	236300	38.40	+1.48
MDU Res*	MDU	1483500	36.09	+1.46
Buenaventura*	BVN	1681300	26.46	+1.32
Peabody Enrgy*	BTU	24654300	45.65	-5.96
CONSOL Energy*	CNX	12822500	38.89	-3.12
StreetTr Gold*	GLD	7811400	61.14	-2.81
Gold Fields*	GFI	10995200	20.89	-2.46
Lihir Gold*	LIHRY	192512	41.03	-2.22
Fording C C T*	FDG	4376100	26.46	-2.14
Arch Coal*	ACI	16428400	33.41	-2.05
Massey Energy*	MEE	6879100	29.52	-1.91
Newmont Mng*	NEM	22041300	51.02	-1.74
Meridian Gold*	MDG	3690900	27.36	-1.49