BUY OR SELL-Quadra tops view, but is there value left to mine?

Wed May 13, 2009 11:21pm BST

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* Quadra shares up more than 160 pct year-to-date

* Bears see shares to levered to copper price

* Bulls see growth potential, limited geopolitical risk

TORONTO, May 13 (Reuters) - Quadra Mining Ltd (QUA.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), which posted better-than-expected first quarter results on Tuesday, has seen its shares rise more than 160 percent year-to-date, while the S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE has gained just 8 percent over the same period.

Quadra's fortunes have been closely tied to the vagaries of the price of copper. Its shares have rallied along with copper through the first half of this year, but a 3.3 percent dip by copper prices on Wednesday led to a 7.7 percent decline by Quadra's shares on the day.

But, have Quadra's shares peaked for now, or is there more value to be extracted from investing in the mid-tier Canadian copper miner?

UPSIDE LIMITED

RBC Capital Markets analyst Fraser Phillips thinks Quadra shares are unlikely to see any major gains in the near term. Continued...