AVAILABLE-FOR-SALE SECURITIES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

AVAILABLE-FOR-SALE SECURITIES

AVAILABLE-FOR-SALE SECURITIES

7.     AVAILABLE-FOR-SALE SECURITIES

• During the three months ended September 30, 2011, the Company received proceeds of nil (2010 — $11.1 million) from the sale of certain available-for-sale securities and recognized a gain before income taxes of nil (2010 — $7.8 million).

  During the nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Company received proceeds of $9.3 million (2010 — $11.6 million) from the sale of certain available-for-sale securities and recognized a gain before income taxes of $4.8 million (2010 — $8.2 million).

  The cost of an available-for-sale security was determined based on the average cost. Available-for-sale securities are carried at fair value and comprise the following:

	September 30, 2011			December 31, 2010
Available-for-sale securities in an unrealized gain position
Cost	$	89,477		$	50,958
Unrealized gains in accumulated other comprehensive income		17,558			48,151
Estimated fair value		107,035			99,109
Available-for-sale securities in an unrealized loss position
Cost	$	44,381			—
Unrealized losses in accumulated other comprehensive income		(3,455	)		—
Estimated fair value		40,926			—
Total estimated fair value of available-for-sale securities	$	147,961		$	99,109

• The Company's investments in available-for-sale securities consist primarily of investments in common shares of entities in the mining industry. At September 30, 2011 the pre-impairment fair value of investments in an unrealized loss position was $43.6 million with a total unrealized loss of $6.9 million. The Company evaluated the near-term prospects of the issuers in relation to the severity and duration of the impairment. As a result of that evaluation, the Company wrote down certain available-for-sale securities by $3.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2011 that were considered other-than-temporarily impaired.

  For the remainder of the investments after the other-than-temporary impairment write-down, approximately 27.7% of the total fair value of investments are in an unrealized loss position. The Company also evaluated these securities in relation to the severity and duration (less than three months) of the impairment. Based on that evaluation and the Company's ability and intent to hold those investments for a reasonable period of time sufficient for a forecasted recovery of fair value, the Company does not consider those investments to be other-than-temporarily impaired as at September 30, 2011.