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Monday's most followed in Canada including Hudson's Bay, Turquoise Hill, Klondex Mines, Energizer Resources, Canadian Natural Resources, Tethys, TransForce, Montero Mining

Published: 15:05 29 Jul 2013 EDT

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Toronto's main market was trading softly on Monday ahead of a busy week of corporate earnings from miners and energy companies, and amid a sizeable acquisition in the Canadian retail sector. 

This week, investors will get earnings reports from Canadian Oil Sands (TSE:COS), Talisman Energy (TSE:TLM), Suncor Energy (TSE:SU) and Imperial Oil (TSE:IMO), as well as from miners Cameco Corp (TSE:CCO) and Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX). 

In Canadian corporate news on Monday, Hudson’s Bay (TSE:HBC), the operator of Canada’s largest department store chain, spiked 6.6% to C$17.58 after it agreed to buy U.S. luxury retailer Saks Inc. (NYSE:SKS) for $2.9 billion including debt, to create a company that will operate 320 stores in the U.S. and Canada. North America's oldest continuously operating retailer will pay $16 a share in cash, or a 30 percent premium to Saks's closing price on May 20, the day before media speculation began, the two companies said in a statement on Monday.  The combined company, which brings together Hudson’s Bay, Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue brands, will operate 179 full-line department stores, 72 outlet stores and 69 home stores in North America. Hudson's Bay expects the deal to produce C$100 million in annual cost savings within three years. =

Elsewhere, in materials, Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (TSE:TRQ), a mining company operating in Asia and Australia, fell 17.6% to C$4.48, the lowest intraday price in more than four years. The Vancouver, British Colombia-based company said parent Rio Tinto Plc (NYSE:RIO) delayed work on a $5.1 billion underground expansion of a copper mine in Mongolia. It said project financing for Oyu Tolgoi will now require approval by the Mongolian parliament. 

Klondex Mines (TSE:KDX) (OTCQX:KLNDF) gained almost 4% to C$1.32 after it reported that it has yielded 1,302 tonnes (1,435 tons) of mineralized material in June from its underground development program at its Fire Creek project in Nevada, ahead of targeted initial production later this year. The results from the program, which targeted the Joyce and Vonnie structures at the site, come just days after the company made two big announcements, including an agreement with U.S. mining giant Newmont (NYSE:NEM) to begin processing the company's higher grade mineralized material from the Nevada property this month.

Shares of Energizer Resources (OTCBB:ENZR) (TSE:EGZ) meanwhile more than doubled after reporting greater than 99.9 per cent graphitic carbon from a finished concentrate of its Molo flake graphite deposit in Madagascar, completed as part of a series of preliminary metallurgical tests to enhance both the operating and capital costs presented in an economic study from January. The company's stock was lately up 155% at an intraday high as of 3:00pm ET, at 28 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange. 

In other stocks, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (TSE:CNQ), Canada’s second-largest energy company by market value, fell 0.6% to C$32, after the stock had been lowered at Macquarie Reserach to "neutral" from "outperform". 

Tethys Petroleum (LON:TPL) (TSE:TPL) is to use the funds it received from last month’s farm-out agreement on its Bokhtar venture in Tajikistan to accelerate its Kazakhstan drilling program. Dr David Robson, executive chairman and president of Tethys said in a statement Monday: "Our world-class farm-out agreement in Tajikistan has enabled the company to use these funds to accelerate our drilling program in Kazakhstan demonstrating the real synergies in our portfolio. 

"The program is comprised of two oil exploration wells, including a deeper Triassic target, which are designed to unlock high potential prospects but represent limited risk due to their proximity to the already producing Doris field.”

Capital Power Corp. (TSE:CPX), an operator of power-generating facilities, gained 1.8% to C$21.45 after saying its second-quarter results surpassed its expectations, with adjusted earnings rising to 24 Canadian cents a share from 7 Canadian cents. It said it now expects to top the high end of its earnings and cash flow guidance for the year. 

TransForce Inc. (TSE:TFI), a logistics and trucking company, gained 0.7% to C$20.7. The Saint-Laurent, Quebec-based company said second-quarter net earnings fell to 28 Canadian cents a share from 34 Canadian cents, while adjusted earnings improved by a penny to 39 Canadian cents. Revenue declined to C$792 million from C$812 million. 

Moving to junior stocks in Canada, Montero Mining and Exploration (CVE:MON) provided Monday an update on test work from material at the company's Wigu Hill rare earth project in Tanzania, taking a significant step forward in improving the economic flowsheet for the asset. The metallurgical study, done by SGS Lakefield, examined flotation processes to upgrade rare earth element (REE) minerals from Wigu Hill bastnaesite-rich carbonatite material. The main aim of the study was to identify a processing route that could recover the rare earth-bearing minerals while rejecting major "gangue" minerals that include quartz and barite. 

Terraco Gold Corp. (CVE:TEN) says it has closed its third royalty transaction on the Spring Valley project in Nevada that it agreed upon in April, which included a US$1.0 million cash infusion, increasing the junior company's royalty exposure on the Barrick (TSE:ABX)-led joint venture property to up to three per cent.  Together with the company's first two net smelter returns (NSR) transactions on the project in 2011 and 2012, Terraco now has royalty coverage, either by direct ownership or option, of up to 3 per cent NSR on the developing project, which is expected to advance through scoping and into pre-feasibility status this year. 

Nickel group Horizonte Minerals (LON:HZM) (CVE:HZM) has appointed consultant Snowden to carry out the pre-feasibility study work on its Araguaia deposit in Brazil. Snowden will lead the work on the study and co-ordinate a number of other groups. The expected completion date for the PFS is the first half of next year.

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