Bullion dropped to a three-week low as the dollar and Treasury yields strengthened, bringing the precious metal’s weekly loss to 2.9%.

The underground development could boost Haile's gold production by up to 100,000 oz. a year.

The blockades were set up around the gold mine in Buritica municipality on Aug. 12 to demand a rescue mission to find informal miners.

Australia's biggest gold miner said underlying profit came in at $872 million for the year ended June compared with $1.16 billion a year earlier.

Softer numbers translated into depressed equity market support for the mining industry.

The indicated gold resource now totals 1.16 million oz., representing an increase of 121% over the previous estimate.

The resource calculation encompasses both in-pit and underground components of the Tommy and Ted-Mint vein systems.