Chart of the week: Economic Power

Crescent Gold Limited is pleased to announce a maiden probable gold reserve of 54,000 ounces near surface at its newly acquired Apollo Deposit in Laverton, Western Australia. Mining operations have been fast tracked and are scheduled to commence in the third quarter of this year. New drilling results and resource modelling had confirmed the probable gold reserve of 770,000 tonnes and at average grade of 2.2 grams per tonne Au (g/t gold) at the company's newly acquired Apollo deposit, less than 10 kilometres southwest of Laverton. Crescent Gold acquired the project last year from the former owners, Barrick Gold and Carbon Energy.

Minera Andes announced net income of $17.0 million ($0.06 per share basic and diluted) for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, an increase of $19.9 million compared to a net loss of $2.9 million ($0.01 per share loss basic and diluted), as restated, for the same period in 2010. The increase is primarily attributable to the strong performance of the San José Mine where our 49% ownership interest is reflected in our Income from Investment in Minera Santa Cruz S.A. ("MSC") which increased from $0.1 million in Q1 2010 to $11.7 million in Q1 2011. Comparing Q1 2011 to Q1 2010, silver ounces sold at MSC increased from 739,000 ounces ("oz") to 1,342,000 oz and gold ounces sold increased from 14,000 oz to 18,000 oz, reflecting increases of 82% and 29%, respectively.

First Uranium announced total gold sales for its financial year ended March 31, 2011 ("FY 2011") of 142,630 ounces of gold, which is a significant increase over the 91,657 ounces sold at the end of March 31, 2010. The Company's consolidated revenue of $172 million for FY 2011, an increase of 86% from $93 million in revenue for FY 2010, resulted in the Company reflecting a $20 million gross profit margin from operations in FY 2011 compared to a loss of $18 million in FY 2010. Remembering that First Uranium remains in a capital development and growth phase, the consolidated pre-tax loss for the year was $76 million, which is a 19% improvement over the pre-tax loss of $94 million in FY 2010.

The rebranding of former fiery leftist Ollanta Humala apparently struck a chord with Peruvian voters as exit polls Sunday showed the former army commander is leading the race to become Peru's next president. The 48-year-old Humala declared victory late Sunday night in an apparently razor-thin win. He would succeed President Alan Garcia on July 28. Image from Agência Brasil under Creative Commons license.

Diamonds North Resources acquired 100% interest in the Esker gold property in Nunavut. The Esker claim covers several kilometres of gold bearing stratigraphy. Drill intercepts of gold mineralization are as high as 8.2 g/T gold over 13 metres, including 17.7 g/T gold over 5.7 metres; and, 2.4 g/T gold over 71 metres which includes several high grade zones (see table below). For a video presentation on this project visit our website www.diamondsnorth.com. "This low cost staking puts us into a project with wide zones of high grade gold mineralization and significant tonnage potential. As only a small portion of the zone has been tested, our objective is to drill along strike of the known mineralization along the host gabbro units to expand the gold-bearing mineralized zone," says Mark Kolebaba President and CEO of Diamonds North.

One of 2010’s glamour floats in Australia, Middle Island Resources Ltd (ASX: MDI) has decided to join some global majors, including BHP […]

Indian traders on Saturday sent gold prices higher amid the Indian wedding season and firming overseas trends and silver snapped its three-day losing streak. On global markets on Friday Gold for August delivery added $9.70 to $1,542.40 an ounce after US economic data showed job growth slowed to a crawl in May. The weak dollar and the spectre of a return to recession in the US on top of a European debt crisis have buoyed the gold price this year and long term fundamentals – buying in India and China – remain strong. India remained the top purchaser of gold buying 291 tonnes in the first quarter while China added 93 tonnes of bars and coins from January to March, more than double the 2010 level and jewellery demand increased 21% from a year earlier to a record 143 tonnes.

Vancouver-based African Queen Mines announced on Friday that it has now commenced its 2011 core drilling program covering approximately 3000m at its King Solomon Project, located north of Lake Cahorra Basa in western Tete Province, Mozambique. The project is the subject of the earn-in and joint venture with Switzerland's Opti Metal Trading, covering exploration, development and exploitation. African Queen has so far earned an interest of 51% in the project and may earn up to 85% by funding additional prescribed stages through feasibility. The company is exploring properties in Mozambique, Kenya and Ghana for gold and other metals and it is undertaking exploration in Botswana and Namibia for diamonds, gold and other metals – the licenses in Botswana comprise approximately 2890 sq km of diamond prospects.

Columbus Gold Corporation announced on Friday the acquisition of three new projects in the Greater Mahogany Hills, bringing its total gold property portfolio in Nevada to 26, covering approximately 37,000 acres. Columbus Gold plans to complete mapping and further sampling with plans to drill target areas in late 2011 and 2012. Columbus Gold is a gold exploration and development company operating in French Guiana and Nevada. In French Guiana, Columbus Gold recently acquired an option to earn a 100% interest in the Paul Isnard gold project, which has a 43-101 compliant 1.9 million ounce inferred gold resource and substantial expansion potential.