Mining eye index up 47% in June quarter

Finance

Ernst & Young's Mining Eye index, representing the top 20 mining companies on AIM by market value, gained 47% in the quarter to end-June as underlying commodity prices continued to recover.

“In a reversal of the trend seen over the latter half of 2008, mining stocks also drove a tentative recovery in the AIM market as a whole this quarter,” said the latest report.

The AIM Basic Resources index has gained 86% since January.
According to the accounting firm, peer indexes in Canada and Australia underperformed the AIM Basic Resources index.

Toronto’s S&P/TSX Composite Metals & Mining index gained just 3% in the June quarter, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 300 Metals & Mining index rose 11%.

However while the Mining Eye was up 89% between the start of the year and the end of June, it was still 57% below its March 2008 all-time high.

Frontier Mining Ltd topped the group of gainers during the quarter, where a financing agreement for one project and trial mining at another, helped the company’s share price gain 962%.
Noventa Ltd  was the biggest faller, down 73% as it announced the intent to place its Marropino tantalum mine on care and maintenance as it sought a strategic partner to fund a hard rock circuit.

For the third consecutive quarter, there were no new listings on AIM and five companies delisted. This left 168 companies quoted, with an aggregate market capitalisation of £7.7 billion (up 37% quarter-on-quarter).