Sprott closes door on molybdenum fund

Canadian commodities guru Eric Sprott has decided to kill off his pioneering molybdenum fund less than two years after launching it, in the wake of plunging prices and dismal prospects for the steel-hardening metal. Sprott Molybdenum Participation Corp. said yesterday that following a strategic review announced last month, its board of directors has determined that distributing its assets to shareholders would be in their and the company's best interests. The company, which went public at $5 a share in April, 2007 - raising $189-million in its initial public offering - said its net asset value was $1.75 a share as of this Wednesday, with $1.51 of that held in cash and short-term securities, net of liabilities. MLY (TSX) rose 18 cents to $1.57.