A collapse in gold producers lofty valuations has sparked soul searching about an exodus of restive shareholders, forcing them to tighten operations and boost dividends to lure investors.
Gold prices hit their lowest since early January on Wednesday as comments from the European Central Bank lifted the dollar to three-week highs against the euro, accelerating a fall sparked by declining expectations of more U.S. monetary easing.
Peru implemented a new law on Tuesday that aims to calm debilitating social conflicts over natural resources in the top global metals exporter, and the new rules could cover indigenous and peasant communities in much of the country.
Silver miner First Majestic said on Tuesday that it will take over Silvermex Resources in a friendly deal that values the smaller company at C$175.4 million ($176.57 million).
Gold held near $1,675 an ounce on Tuesday as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, which will be closely watched for clues on the direction of monetary policy.
African Barrick Gold raised the mineral resource estimate for its Nyanzaga project in Tanzania, and said the project had the potential to become its next mine in the country.
Algy Cluff, resources veteran and one-time owner of The Spectator political weekly, announced on Tuesday he would step down next month as non-executive chairman of Cluff Gold to take on a chief executive role at new resources company.
India's Titan Industries, a jewellery maker promoted by the Tata group, has got approval from the government to directly import gold, its key raw material, said a government official, a move which will help the company save its operating costs.
Gold prices rose above $1,680 an ounce on Monday as the dollar steadied off earlier one-month highs against the euro, with the U.S. unit further paring gains after U.S. construction spending and manufacturing data.
The hysteria over the Mega Millions lottery, which teased Americans with its biggest jackpot in history on Friday night -- a whopping $640 million -- has finally concluded, at least for now. The Mega Millions group claims that three winners purchased the winning lottery tickets in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas; the winning numbers drawn on Friday night in Atlanta were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46, and the Mega Ball was 23.
Gold prices will continue to rise steadily throughout the next 12 months, as long as the U.S. economy maintains its tepid recovery, according to a note recently released by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Gold prices rose on Friday as the dollar fell to a one-month low against a basket of currencies, including the euro, after European finance ministers agreed to boost the euro zone's debt crisis firewall to roughly 800 billion euros ($1.1 trillion).
South Africa's government is to plough $420 million into a public-private platinum venture with Pallinghurst Resources that has ambitions to become the world's third-largest producer of the precious metal.
Gold prices slipped below $1,660 an ounce in Europe on Thursday, extending their retreat from two-week highs into a third session, as the dollar recovered from a near one-month low and crude oil prices turned lower.
Gold-Ore Resources Ltd. said Wednesday it was increasing the underground reserves at its Bjorkdal gold mine in Sweden by 210 percent.
AuRico Gold Inc (NYSE:AUQ), a North American gold producer, reported higher earnings for the fourth quarter and the 2011 year on increased production.
Canadian gold miner Kirkland Lake Gold said it will buy Queenston Mining's 50 percent stake in certain joint venture properties for C$60 million ($60 million) to develop its inventory of the precious minerals.
Gold prices slid below $1,680 an ounce on Wednesday, extending the previous day's retreat from two-week highs as the momentum sparked by expectations for further monetary easing faded after the metal failed to break through key resistance.
Canadian miner Centerra Gold on Tuesday slashed its forecast for 2012 production at its flagship mine in Kyrgyzstan by about a third due to ice movement in the pit, a decline sure to weigh on the fragile economy of the Central Asian state.
Gold prices steadied around two-week highs on Tuesday after posting their biggest one-day rise since late January in the previous session, boosted by expectations that U.S. interest rates will stay lower for longer and by gains in the euro.
Kirkland Lake Gold Inc said a week-long power interruption at its gold mill in Ontario has disrupted its gold production in the fourth quarter.
Russian gold production growth could slow to 3 percent in 2012, comparing with last year's 3.6 percent increase, due to declining output from several mines, the Gold Industrialists' Union said in a statement on Monday.
Gold prices rose 1 percent on Monday after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that faster growth will be needed to boost employment supported expectations that further quantitative easing measures may be necessary.
Gold-mining stocks may be the most attractive way for investors to boost their stake in gold, especially if they are concerned about inflation. Investing profitably is not simply a matter of picking an attractive asset -- the asset must also be purchased at an attractive price.
Stocks mostly inched higher on Friday as rising energy shares offset early weakness, though the S&P 500 remained on track to break a five-week streak of gains.
Silver Wheaton Corp., which gets its revenue under contracts with producing miners rather than produce silver and other metals itself, said Friday its fourth-quarter profit rose 20 percent on higher sales volumes and higher silver and gold prices.
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa insisted on Thursday he will push ahead with plans to develop large-scale mining, seeking to ride out the arrival in Quito of ind igenous de monstrators who fear their lands will be wrecked.
A coup d'etat currently underway in Mali is not affecting gold production there, miners in the country are saying, as events related to the military uprising seem confined to the country's capital, hundreds of miles away from where gold deposits are located.
Gold hit its lowest level since mid-January on Thursday, influenced by dollar strength, with the market having unwound all of the premium built up on expectations for further U.S. quantitative easing.
Gold traded broadly steady on Wednesday, as a boost from a modestly stronger euro against the dollar partly offset slow consumer demand and an erosion in holdings of the metal in exchange-traded products.
