Gains in the Chinese yuan on Monday made gold cheaper for buyers in the world’s biggest gold consumer, providing some support for prices.

Fabio Schvartsman said the company would ramp up annual production to 450 million tonnes only when prices rise.

Rising costs, falling metals prices may eat into margins.

Demand for physical gold was modest in India this week as the top bullion consuming state of Kerala coped with floods, while interest for the metal remained lacklustre elsewhere in Asia as buyers awaited a dip in prices.

Kremlin aide Andrei Belousov said on Friday he would like major Russian firms to invest in social projects rather than pay higher taxes.

Chile is preparing major new restrictions on the extraction of water from the lithium-rich Salar de Atacama salt flats, home to top lithium miners Albemarle and SQM.

The risk of blackouts in Australia's upcoming summer has grown from last year as ageing coal-fired power plants have become less reliable.

In the United States, old aluminium smelters are being brought back to life.

Australia's South32 Ltd posted a 16 percent rise in its annual underlying earnings, as healthy demand for manganese and alumina helped offset tepid output at its Illawarra coal project.

Sibanye-Stillwater will look for growth in the bullion sector once it has improved its debt levels and outlined a blueprint for improving safety at its gold operations.

Deal is for Chevron's local and Botswana assets.

NFC Africa, majority owned by China Non-ferrous Metals Company Limited launched output at a new $832 million Zambian copper mine, extending the firm's lifespan by over 20 years.