Anti-bribery, corruption, and disputes – it’s not as easy as ABCD

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 .

Iberian Minerals Corp. (TSX VENTURE:IZN) today announced financial and operating results for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2011, with comparative figures for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2010. The Company reported net income of $47.80 million for Q2 2011, representing $0.13 per share.

David Frum, former President Bush speech writer and now blog publisher, inveighed against the gold standard one more time. "The United States adhered to the classic gold standard for a surprisingly short time: from 1873 until 1934 with a brief time-out during World War I. And for most Americans, the gold standard of 1873-1934 delivered pretty miserable results, including two terrible depressions (1893-1896 and 1929-1940) plus the long grinding squeeze of the deflation of 1873-1893," writes Frum.

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.

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.

DRC gold mine on track for Q4 production – Banro New York- and Toronto-listed Banro on Monday said its Twangiza gold project is on track to become the first new commercial gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in more than 50 years, with

Yukon-Nevada Gold announced its financial and operational results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011. Highlights for the three-month period ended June 30, 2011 include the Jerritt Canyon Mine whihch produced 22,168 ounces from purchased ore, stockpiles and mining operations in the three months ended June 30, 2011, compared with 18,441 ounces in 2010, reflecting a 20% increase in production despite continued shutdowns.

Oz Minerals reported its half year financial results on Monday. Highlights were revenue of $632.7 million, and reported net profit after tax of $113.9 million with underlying net profit after tax of $189.1 million.

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.