DESPITE some upbeat commentary from BHP Billiton’s annual general meeting and Chinese rumours about Rio Tinto, today’s session could almost have been cancelled for lack of interest, with the vast majority of resource plays trading in a limited range.

Stock   ASX Code Close ($) Change (cents) Change (%) Vol (M) VWAP ($) Aquila Resources   AQA 10.2 41 4.19% 0.80 10.12 Aquarius Platinum.   AQP 6.51 19 3.01% 2.05 6.50 Newcrest Mining   NCM 38 102 2.76% 4.47 38.11 MacArthur Coal   MCC 9.83 25 2.61% 1.00 9.73 Mount Gibson Iron   MGX 1.54 2.5 1.65% 2.26 1.53 OZ Minerals   OZL 1.255 2 1.62% 9.81 1.26 BHP Billiton Limited   BHP 41.8 61 1.48% 10.48 41.68 PanAust Limited   PNA 0.535 0.5 0.94% 16.44 0.53 Centamin Egypt   CNT 2.37 2 0.85% 0.26 2.38 Andean Resources Ltd   AND 2.7 2 0.75% 0.33 2.70 Lihir Gold Limited   LGL 3.67 2 0.55% 40.08 3.70 Sino Gold Mining Ltd   SGX 7.98 4 0.50% 3.00 7.97 Kingsgate Consolid.   KCN 9.81 4 0.41% 1.20 9.91 Riversdale Mining   RIV 6.42 2 0.31% 1.84 6.45 Iluka Resources   ILU 3.58 1 0.28% 0.91 3.59 Felix Resources Ltd.   FLX 16.85 3 0.18% 1.14 16.83 New Hope Corporation   NHC 4.27 -1 -0.23% 0.36 4.29 Equinox Minerals Ltd   EQN 4.16 -1 -0.24% 1.15 4.17 Centennial Coal   CEY 3.35 -1 -0.30% 0.93 3.37 Whitehaven Coal   WHC 4.45 -2 -0.45% 0.47 4.48 Energy Resources   ERA 23.89 -11 -0.46% 0.14 23.92 Extract Resources   EXT 7.73 -7 -0.90% 0.25 7.80 Paladin Energy Ltd   PDN 4.11 -4 -0.96% 2.92 4.11 Western Areas NL   WSA 5.25 -6 -1.13% 0.63 5.25 Minara Resources   MRE 0.835 -1 -1.18% 1.83 0.84 Rio Tinto Limited   RIO 70.65 -105 -1.46% 2.83 70.85 Mirabela Nickel Ltd   MBN 2.75 -5 -1.79% 0.92 2.76 Lynas Corporation   LYC 0.585 -1.5 -2.50% 10.97 0.59 Fortescue Metals Grp   FMG 4.14 -11 -2.59% 2.55 4.19 Alumina Limited   AWC 1.57 -4.5 -2.79% 13.66 1.59

On Final Call’s watchlist 159 stocks fell, 221 stocks were unchanged and 184 rose.

The benchmark S&P-ASX 200 fell all of 0.3%, taking the index to 4708.6 points.

With that kind of mood permeating the market, it was unsurprising the mid-tier and majors also had a divided session.

BHP and Rio usually follow roughly the same path but today BHP rose and Rio dropped by the same percentage (1.5%).

BHP’s shares rose on the back of some cautiously optimistic commentary from chairman Don Argus and chief executive Marius Kloppers at the company’s annual general meeting.

Kloppers said China continued to surprise the company on the upside, while Argus said the iron ore joint venture with Rio was still a goer.

Argus also said Chinese investment in Australian resources plays was a good thing and China was welcome to invest in BHP.

At the end of trade, BHP’s shares were up A61c, to $41.80.

Rio, meanwhile, continued its fall from yesterday with a drop of $1.05 to $70.65 after yesterday’s rumours that Chinalco wanted to sell its shares in the major miner.

Gold plays were once again in the spotlight with the gold price testing fresh highs overnight, peaking at $US1193 an ounce.

On the back of this, Newcrest Mining lifted $A1.02 to $38 while New Zealand gold miner OceanaGold had a very good session, rising 25c or 15% to $1.945.

Other gold plays making waves included Integra Mining, which was heavily traded today – some 40 million shares in the company changed hands. Its shares rose 3.5c to 32c, a 12% gain.

And if you are a shareholder of Adelaide-based Ramelius Resources, you should definitely get along to its AGM tomorrow, as the gold play is giving away nuggets to lucky shareholders who attend.

Shares in Ramelius, which is still bidding for fellow gold play Dioro Exploration, ended the day 1.5c higher to 49.5c.

Most traded was another Western Australian gold miner, Focus Minerals, with 144 million shares moving as the company dropped 0.3c to 6.1c.

Other gainers at the junior end included Intermet Resources, up 3c or 75% to 7c, on news that some promising rock chip samples had been found at its Mt Cardwell project in Queensland.

Another junior to climb was Windy Knob Resources, up 1.4c to 4.6c, a 44% climb, after acquiring a coking coal project in Mongolia.

It was a tougher day for copper play Cudeco, down 37c to $5.41 after its annual general meeting.

Axiom Mining was the biggest faller on percentages, down 0.8c to 1.1c, a 42% drop.

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