Gold

TORONTO, CANADA--(Marketwire - Feb. 6, 2012) - Centerra Gold Inc. (TSX:CG) announced that the unionized employees of its Kumtor operation in the Kyrgyz Republic have begun an illegal strike.

The South African government has quashed persistent rumours about nationalizing the country's mining industry.

Rubicon Minerals stocks were diving this morning (TSE:RMX) (AMEX:RBY) close to 5 per cent as the Canadian company said Monday that it has agreed to a $200.9 million bought deal financing, with funds to be used for the development of its Phoenix gold project in Red Lake, Ontario.

London- and Nasdaq-listed gold producer Randgold Resources Ltd. (LON:RRS) (NASDAQ:GOLD) stocks went up 3.5 percent after the West Africa-focused miner reported a more than fourfold rise in net profit for the year ended December 2011 due to higher gold prices and a significant increase in production.

Hint of significant gold and copper deposits have been found in Rajasthan, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, with the gold reserves believed to be world class.

South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, appears to be moving away from nationalization of the mining industry to reassure foreign investors but is considering new taxes and "targeted interventions" in the sector, particularly platinum mines.

The state agency of geology and mineral resources of Kyrgyzstan announced this week that in 2011, the output of the gold-mining industry of the ex-Soviet republic increased by 41.7% compared with 2010. The value of gold production dominated by the Kumtor mine owned by Canada's Centerra was $1.9 billion, almost a full 15% of the impoverished country's $13.16 billion (2011 est.) gross domestic product.

A new UN report says a US trade adviser appointed by Barack Obama orchestrated a $20 million deal to buy 1,045 pounds of gold in eastern DRC from warlord Bosco Ntaganda, wanted for war crimes since 2006. The botched deal by Houston oil tycoon Dr. Kase Lawal also involved his brother and former basketball star Dikembe Mutombo.

Gold futures eased Friday after better than expected US jobs data made further relaxation in Fed monetary policy, already very loose, less likely and money flowed into stocks.