TSX Group says it 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, in a news release. “Of the over 8,500 projects being undertaken by mining companies that we list, nearly a third are outside of North America.”

The TSX Group’s mining sector is home to 1,249 listed mining companies with a quoted market value of over $297 billion.