On December 21st, 2010,  Avalon announced it would list on the NYSE Amex exchange. The company’s shares rose more than 20 percent after the announcement, to close the day at $4.91. The added liquidity of a U.S. listing has apparently served the company well. Shares have continued to surge, closing today at $9.13, a fifty-two week high.

To investors these days, it may seem that Avalon Metals can do no wrong. Today’s record high comes on the heels of a press release that was not, at first blush, resoundingly positive. The company reported that, over all, their various metallurgical test programs were progressing close to original projected timelines but the hydrometallurgical pilot plant work was forecast to take perhaps four months longer to complete than originally estimated. Subsequently, the forecast completion date for the bankable feasibility study may be delayed until the fourth quarter of 2012.

Avalon President & CEO Don Bubar commented, “We have been pleased with the progress achieved to date on our metallurgical test program and are now implementing measures to ensure that the hydrometallurgical pilot plant work does not significantly delay the completion of the bankable feasibility study.”

In an interview last summer with Rare Metal Blog, Bubar pointed out that Avalon was interested in entering into offtake agreements with buyers, “We’ve had some expressions of interest from different parts of the world and now we are starting to move that forward,” and, “Obviously we’d like to enter into those offtakes as soon as we can, or at least have some sort of relationship in place to see that happen.” To date, however, the only agreements the company has been able to forge have been with two Native groups; the Yellowknives Dene First Nation (December 8, 2010) and the Deninu K’ue First Nation (February 8th, 2011) regarding the development of their Nechalacho rare earth elements deposit in Thor Lake, NWT.