Four New Commodity Stocks Added; Four Stocks Deleted from Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The-Ground Global Commodity Index in Quarterly Rebalancing

Hecla Mining Company

HL | 3/12/2010 3:00:00 AM

NEW YORK, March 12, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ --

The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The-Ground Global Commodity Index (TICKER: CRBQX) will add four new components, effective 6:00 PM (EDT) Sunday, March 21, 2010. Four stocks will be deleted from the index, maintaining the current number of index components at 150.

The additions to CRBQX are: CF Industries Holdings Inc (TICKER: CF US); Aluminum Corporation of China (TICKER: ACH US); Williams Companies Inc (TICKER: WMB); Hecla Mining Company (TICKER: HL).

The deletions from CRBQX are: Makhteshim-Agan Industries (TICKER: MAIN IT); Salzgitter AG (TICKER: SZG GR); Murphy Oil Corporation (TICKER: MUR); Royal Gold Inc (TICKER: RGL CN).

These additions and deletions affect four CRB-EQ sub-indexes:

CRBAX (Agriculture) deleted Makhteshim-Agan Industries (TICKER: MAIN IT) and added CF Industries Holdings Inc (TICKER: CF US).

CRBIX (Base & Industrial Metals) deleted Salzgitter AG (TICKER: SZG GR) and added Aluminum Corporation of China (TICKER: ACH US).

CRBEX (Energy) deleted Murphy Oil Corporation (TICKER: MUR) and added Williams Companies Inc (TICKER: WMB).

CRBGX (Precious Metals) deleted Royal Gold Inc (TICKER: RGL CN) and added Hecla Mining Company (TICKER: HL).

Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Wildcatters Energy E&P Equity Index (TICKER: WCATI) will add nine new components, effective 6:00 PM (EST) Sunday, March 21, 2010. Three stocks will be deleted from the index, changing the number of index components to 60.

The additions to WCATI are: American Oil & Gas Inc (TICKER: AEZ US); Anderson Energy Ltd (TICKER: AXL CN); Angle Energy Inc (TICKER: NGL CN); China North East Petroleum (TICKER: NEP US); Delphi Energy Corporation (TICKER: DEE CN); Energy Partners Ltd (TICKER: EPL US); Houston American Energy Corporation (TICKER: HUSA US); Toreador Resources Corporation (TICKER: TRGL US); Vanguard Natural Resources (TICKER: VNR US).

The deletions from WCATI are: Atlas Energy Inc (TICKER: ATLS US); Forest Oil Corp (TICKER: FST US); Petrominerales Ltd (TICKER: PMG CN).

A complete list of constituents and weights will be posted on the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Equity Indexes family website (http://www.crbequityindexes.com/indexdata-form.php) as of the effective date.

The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The-Ground Global Commodity Equity Index (TICKER: CRBQX) is an equity index designed to serve as a benchmark for globally traded stocks that are principally engaged in the production and distribution of commodities, including energy, metals and agricultural products. The CRBQX employs a modified capitalization weighting methodology designed to assure accurate investment exposure across the various business segments that together comprise the global commodity producers industry.

The Index Committee today announced two changes to the index rulebook. The first change relating to "Special Dividends" is as follows: Any 'explicitly labeled' Special Dividend or any dividend larger than 10% of the equity price is considered a special dividend and requires a price and share adjustment to the company that issued the special dividend. The adjustment will be a market neutral event and will have no effect on the divisor.

The second change relating to the "Calculation of Index Values" is as follows: "Stocks denominated in foreign currencies will be converted to USD with each reported price using exchange rates derived from Reuters. Official closing prices for the Indexes will be calculated using the 4:00pm GMT Reuters Rates."

Detailed information, including constituent data, rules and price information, on the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Equity Indexes is available at http://www.crbequityindexes.com/. Data is available through most vendors of financial data.

Index: Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The-Ground Global Commodity Equity Index (USD): CRBQX

Index: Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The-Ground Global Agriculture Equity Index (USD): CRBAX

Index: Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The-Ground Global Energy Equity Index (USD): CRBEX

Index: Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The-Ground Global Industrial Metals Equity Index (USD): CRBIX

Index: Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The Ground Global Precious Metals Equity Index (USD): CRBGX

Index: Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Wildcatters Energy E&P Equity Index (USD) TICKER: WCATI

Contact: Joseph LaCorte S-Network Global Indexes, LLC 646-467-7927 www.crbequityindexes.com

SOURCE Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB In-The-Ground Global Commodity Index

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