Most actively traded companies on the TSX

TORONTO – Some of the most active companies traded Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:

Toronto Stock Exchange (16,426.30, down0.88 of a point).

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB). Health care. Up 37 cents, 7.81 per cent, to $5.11 on 8.8 million shares.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (TSX:FM). Materials. Up $1.13, or 11.33 per cent, to $11.10 on 6.2 million shares.

Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA). Energy. Down eight cents, or 1.42 per cent, to $5.55 on 5.1 million shares.

Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX:BTE). Energy. Down seven cents, or 4.19 per cent, to $1.60 on 4.8 million shares.

Cronos Group Inc. (TSX:CRON). Health care. Up 57 cents, or 5.17 per cent, to $11.60 on 4.3 million shares.

OceanaGold Corp. (TSX:OGC). Materials. Up nine cents, or 2.92 per cent, to $3.17 on 4 million shares.

Companies in the news:

Nutrien Ltd. (TSX:NTR). Down 71 cents to $64.53. Australian mining giant BHP Group Ltd. says it hopes to make a final investment decision on a massive potash project in Saskatchewan in early 2021. The company says its board of directors will be asked to decide the fate of the long-delayed Jansen project about 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon in February 2021. Prices for potash, a light coloured mineral used as a crop fertilizer, have plunged due to a global oversupply, leading to layoffs and mine production interruptions in Canada. Last month, Canadian fertilizer company Nutrien Ltd. announced eight-week inventory shutdowns at three of its potash mines in Saskatchewan, potentially affecting up to 700 workers.

Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX). Up 11 cents to $22.49. Barrick Gold Corp. says its full-year production is trending towards the upper end of its guidance for 5.1 million to 5.6 million ounces. The gold miner says preliminary third quarter sales amounted to 1.32 million ounces of gold and 64 million pounds of copper, while preliminary production figures for the quarter totalled 1.31 million ounces of gold and 111 million pounds of copper. Barrick also said costs are likely to be at the lower end of its forecast. In August, Barrick had forecast gold cash costs of $650 to $700 an ounce for 2019 and all-in sustaining costs of $870 to $920 an ounce.

Hexo Corp. (TSX:HEXO). Up 56 cents or 17.23 per cent to $3.81. The joint venture between beer giant Molson Coors and pot producer Hexo Corp. says its portfolio of pot-based drinks set to hit the market later this year includes a CBD-infused spring water as well as beverages containing THC. The announcement by Truss Beverage Co. comes one week after its competitor Fluent Beverage Co. — a joint venture between the world’s largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev and B.C. pot company Tilray Inc. — said it was launching CBD drinks as early as December, but it was not yet able to develop a formulation for THC. Truss chief executive Brett Vye said it has developed a beverage containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound in cannabis that produces a high, and it aims to launch various drinks containing the active ingredient by December.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2019.