TSX Group Welcomes New Methodology For S&P/TSX Capped Gold Index

TSX Group welcomes Standard and Poor’s recently announced change to the methodology of the S&P/TSX Capped Gold Index. Effective December 18, 2006, the Index will include international mining issuers, and the name of the index will be changed to the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index to reflect the new, global scope. The new methodology provides Index investors with broader company and geographic diversification than the existing methodology and aims to have greater international representation of the gold company performance.

Toronto Stock Exchange issuers will still be prominent in the Index as TSX Group’s exchanges are home to approximately 60% of the world's public mining companies and Canada has the world's largest mining analyst community that covers issuers on both Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange.

"Our exchanges have become the world's leading markets for raising equity capital for mining and as a result we attract numerous international mining participants," said Richard Nesbitt, CEO of TSX Group. "Of the over 8500 projects being undertaken by mining companies that we list, nearly a third are outside of North America."

Mining issuers from around the globe continue to come to TSX Group exchanges. This year there have been a total of 73 new mining listings on the TSX Group’s exchanges. In aggregate, these new listings have brought an additional $8.5 billion to the value of mining securities listed on TSX Group exchanges. The TSX Group's mining sector is home to 1249 listed mining companies with a quoted market value of over $297 billion.