Frik Els , Editor

The charitable foundation run by Sprott Assett Management's chief executive, Eric Sprott, announced Wednesday it is selling 2 million units in Sprott Physical Gold Trust and using the money to buy silver. The closed-end mutual fund trust holds 97% of its total net assets in physical gold bullion in London Good Delivery bar form. Eric Sprott is a well known investment manager and gold bug in Canada and personally holds 6,000,000 units of the trust worth about $94 million based on Wednesday's mid-afternoon price of $15.74 .

Reuters reports Peru's mining firms have agreed to pay higher royalties in an overhaul of the current system, sources on both sides of negotiations between companies and leftist President Ollanta Humala's government said on Tuesday. Under the new system, companies would pay royalties based on their operating profits, not sales and will be be similar to the system used in Chile. The new royalties rates still need to be defined, but they would likely be higher than the current rates of 1% – 3% charged on sales. The initiative comes as mining companies in Peru plan to invest $42.5 billion over the next decade, mainly in copper and gold projects. Peru is the world's largest miner of silver and the second-largest miner of copper.

The world's number two miner provided funding and logistical support as far back as March 2010 for Red Dog, a movie about a kelpie roaming the mining towns of the Pilbara region and now finds itself one of the principal investors in Australia's number one hit movie of the year. There is a statue in the cattle dog's memory in Dampier, which is one of the towns in the 1970s to which he often returned in the region where most of Australia's iron ore is mined today. Iron ore exports alone contribute some 3.6% or $50 billion to Australia's economy.

Bloomberg reports the proposed expansion by South Africa's Royal Bafokeng Platinum follows an increase in demand for platinum which has gained 19% in the past 12 months to $1,818/oz. Steve Phiri, RB Platinum CEO said demand is likely to exceed supply in the next three years, while a shortage of palladium, typically mined along with platinum, may rise to 1 million ounces in 2014. South Africa produces more than three-quarters of global supply.

Gold for December delivery traded at $1,789.60 in after hours trade on Tuesday after earlier achieving a new record closing price of $1,785 per ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The previous closing record was $1,784.30 last week Wednesday when gold futures contracts hit an all-time intra-day high above $1,800. Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday the largest gold fund players including hedge fund titan John Paulson stuck with their bullion bets in the second quarter, opting not to follow George Soros who further reduced his gold ETF holdings.

The market is expecting BHP Billiton to post record-setting annual profits of $US22.1 billion next week on revenues forecast to be a staggering $71.9 billion. BHP investors, whose stock has hardly moved in a year despite stellar growth rates at the Melbourne-based company, would want to hear if another share buyback will follow the $10 billion round completed in June and any update on its purchase of Petrohawk. The world's biggest miner has a history dating back 150 years and its operations span the globe from potash in Canada (pictured) and coal in South Africa to nickel in Australia and copper in Chile.

Barrick Gold Corp. closed down slightly and outperformed a weak broader market on Tuesday despite a downgrade from CIBC World Markets, which is advising investors to remain cautious as the miner diversifies into copper. Barrick is up some 12% this summer, tracking bullion's spectacular rise, but investors have not welcomed its move into base metals. In April it outbid a Chinese company for Equinox in a $7.7 billion deal, its first real foray outside gold. The global growth outlook has clouded considerably since then and copper – a good indicator of economic activity – is trading at 9-month lows.

Crude oil jumped to the highest level in more than a week on Monday after positive news about Japan signalled the global economy may not be in such dire straits as previously thought, the dollar slumped and fresh data showed China's reliance on foreign oil – now at over 55% – is increasing at a rapid pace. US crude in the form of West Texas Intermediate rose 3% to just shy of $88 per barrel and the discount to international prices narrowed slightly. The price for Canadian synthetic crude – a light oil manufactured from oil sands – topped $102 as the premium it attracts widened to over $15 despite a looming end to shortages.

A string of positive developments have lit a fire under North American potash stocks with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan leading the charge. The industry bellwether has made investors almost $5 billion richer since Tuesday after an Indian bid for Belarus's state-owned producer valued that company at close to $30 billion. The news came after the EU's largest player said its profits could jump 40% over the next six months and disappointing corn harvests in the US boosted demand for the soil nutrient. Potash Corp. dragged higher the whole sector which also saw the listing of a potash from waste firm on Monday.

Gold for December delivery rebounded Monday, finishing up $15.40 or almost 1% at $1,758 an ounce, after losing more than $40 over the past two trading days. Gold futures hit highs just above the $1,800 level last week and is up more than 24% for the year. Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the US dropping the gold standard which pegged the conversion rate for one ounce at $35. Most analysts do not expect demand for gold as a hedge against inflation to diminish and speculations that the US Fed will undertake a third round of monetary easing are mounting.