Frik Els , Editor

According to the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends report for the third quarter 2011 released today, demand reached 1,053.9 tonnes, an increase of 6% compared to the same period last year. This equates to $57.7bn, an all-time high in value terms. The increase was driven by investment demand which rose by 33% year-on-year to 468.1 tonnes, generating record quarterly demand of $25.6bn, and came despite a steep drop-off Indian jewellery demand which was down 26% thanks to disappointing Diwali sales.Chinese jewellery demand was 13% higher year-on-year at 131.0 tonnes and topped Indian sales for the first time as Chinese jewellers expand outside the bigger cities.

A new European study says supply shortfalls of rare-earth elements over the next two decades put at risk the EU's ambitious plans to expand the production of solar, wind and green transport technologies and implement carbon-capture systems. According to the EU's Joint Research Centre, solar will require half the current world supply of tellurium and 25% of the supply of indium, while Europe’s wind energy programme which is supposed to power all of the continents 240 million households within 20 years need a steady supply of neodymium and dysprosium. China controls 95% of the globe's rare earth output in 2010 produced more solar panels than the rest of the world combined.

The price of US crude oil broke through the psychologically important $100/barrel level on Wednesday after news of a pipeline deal that will relieve the oil glut in Cushing, Oklahoma, the pricing point for US crude. The US benchmark crude price West Texas Intermediate is now up more than a third from year-lows of $76 struck in early October. On top of the almost 3% move higher to $102 on Wednesday, the gap between WTI and the international benchmark price, Brent, reduced dramatically. From a record margin of $26.87 early September, WTI is now less than $10 cheaper. At the same time the discount on Western Canada Select narrowed 55 cents to $11.40/barrel meaning oil sands producers now get more than $90 per barrel for their heavy oil for the first time since June.

The Economic Times reports gold and diamond jewellery sales across India fell by 25-30% in grammage terms during Diwali due to rising gold prices and a noticeable shift to coins and bars, said a leading industry body which represents 300 000 jewellers. India is world's number one gold jewellery market and the sales figures can be seen as a setback for the industry. In August the World Gold Council said despite a higher gold price, Indian demand grew 38% during Q2 2011 compared to the same period of 2010 and will continue to expand for the rest of the year.

Gold traders and analysts are the most bullish in at least seven years as investors accumulate metal at the fastest pace since August to protect their wealth from a widening European debt crisis. Twenty-one of 22 surveyed by Bloomberg expect bullion to rise on the Comex in New York next week, the third consecutive increase and the highest proportion in data going back to April 2004. Holdings in exchange-traded products backed by gold rose 27.5 metric tons this week, within 1% of the record set almost three months ago. On Friday, gold snapped a 2-day losing streak adding $29 to trade just under $1,790. The gold price peaked above $1,900 at the end of August.

The Chinese General Administration of Customs reported that the country's iron ore and concentrates imports were 49.94 million tonnes in October, down 17.5% from 60.57 million tonnes in September 2011. The spot price for iron ore arriving at China’s Tianjin port increased to $134.40 a tonne last week from $116.90, the lowest in almost two years, on Oct. 28. Most analysts believe do not expect prices to return to the historic highs above $180 seen just two months ago thanks to the volume-driven market strategy of the big three producers and China's plans to increase its domestic supply by 40% over the next four years and up its investment in mines abroad.

Chile will draw on all options at its disposal, including suing for damages, to defend the interests of state-owned Codelco in its fight with Anglo American, President Sebastián Piñera told the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum on Saturday. Earlier Codelco's chief Diego Hernandez said in a press interview the looming legal battle with Anglo could take three to four years to be resolved. The state-owned copper giant is putting together a crack team of lawyers and financial advisers from Chile and New York to fight Anglo's attempt to block it from exercising an option to buy half of Anglo's Chilean copper assets for $6 billion. Anglo last week sold 24.5% to Mitsubishi for $5.4 billion.

Australia's Minister for Resources, Martin Ferguson, has rejected reports in the Indian press that the carbon tax and mineral resources rent tax will deter foreign investment as it pushes up the price coal imported from Australia. Australia's controversial carbon pricing scheme passed parliament last week. The laws – fiercely opposed by the country's mining sector which says it will lead to more than 20 mine closures and cost thousands of jobs – will force Australia's top 500 polluting companies to pay a tax of $24.50/tonne on carbon emissions from July 2012.

Business Times reports thousands of people face evacuation from greater Johannesburg in the Gauteng province – the economic heartland of South Africa – due to toxic sludge from abandoned gold mines laced with high radiation levels. Acid mine water, the result of groundwater flowing through underground shafts, is decanting from an old uranium mine and rising by half a metre a day beneath the city of 7 million people. Mass evacuation of informal settlements is one of several recommendations in a government-commissioned plan drafted in June to deal with 380 acid mine dumps – many of them radioactive – left over from more than century of underground mining. Uranium is often mined as a byproduct of gold in South Africa.

Business Live reports De Beers high-quality diamond retail arm Forevermark will not sell any diamonds from Zimbabwe's controversial Chiadzwa and fields, CEO Stephen Lussier said at the launch of the exclusive brand in South Africa. This comes after the industry regulator, the Kimberley Process, gave Zimbabwe the green light to resume diamond exports from Marange last week. The decision is already being questioned, after the country's mines minister admitted on Thursday that smuggling was still rife. International sales from Marange were banned in 2009 after hundreds were killed and thousands of local miners were driven off claims when the army seized control of the area.