Gold

For those who feel they need a little more security than buying gold through an exchange traded fund, the Royal Canadian Mint is offering exchange traded receipts backed by physical gold bullion held in the mint's facilities in Ottawa, Ontario. The Canadian mint, which announced this product on Friday, says that ETRs are different than other gold investment products since the purchaser of an ETR owns the actual gold rather than a unit or share in an entity that owns the gold. When someone buys an ETR, the money will be used to purchase gold at the London pm fix price on the closing date of the offering.

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Nov. 1, 2011) - TVI Pacific Inc. (TSX:TVI) (OTCQX:TVIPF) ("TVI" or the "Company") announced today that it has been advised by its Philippine affiliate, TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. ("TVIRD") that TVIRD is preparing to file a series of legal actions in Philippine courts to prevent the implementation of an Ordinance scheduled to come into effect in the Province of Zamboanga del Norte on November 6, 2011. The Ordinance, filed with no advance notice to TVIRD or TVI, purports to ban new open pit or open cut mines in the Province of Zamboanga del Norte and causes the closure process of existing such mines to begin one year from now, or November 2012. TVIRD intends to continue operating at Canatuan without disruption during this period. This Ordinance has no impact on TVIRD's gold development project at Balabag as it is in Zamboanga del Sur, a different province. Development plans continue at Balabag.

Australia's new mining tax is being held up in the legislature by independents who want more controls on coal seam gas. Sydney Morning Herald reports that two independents MPs, Tony Windsor and Roy Oakeshott, are demanding curbs on coal seam gas exploration, and that hundreds of millions of environmental research dollars be spent, in return for their support for the bill: Mr Windsor, who holds the NSW seat of New England, told the Herald he had had enough of the methods of coal seam gas companies, which were expanding operations dramatically in NSW and Queensland. Mr Windsor's key demand is for $200 million to $400 million to be allocated each year from the tax revenue to fund bio-regional assessments, an idea he raised last week.

Arabian American Development Co, announced over the weekend it has completed construction of the gold, silver and copper mine in Saudi-Arabia which it is developing with Saudi's Al-Kobra Mining Company (Amak). The Texas-based company, which owns 37% of Amak, said it will turn the facility over to the Chinese surface operator to begin operations end-November. In July Arabian American Development got a $37m injection from a fund controlled by the League of Arab States. Shareholders in the Nasdaq-listed company saw the value of their investment rise a cool $107m as a result of the transaction and over the last month stock in the 44-year old company has risen 28.5%. The mine in a Yemen border province is the only non-government mine in the Saudi kingdom and is scheduled to begin production early next year.

The Guardian reports the approval for Britain's only commercial goldmine despite opposition from environmental groups has sparked fears for the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park national park. The mine is around 1 kilometre inside the park boundary. It was the second time Sydney-listed mining company Scotgold had applied to mine gold and silver at the Cononish site, which it bought in 2007. It was turned down last year over concerns about waste – 400,000 tonnes will be produced over the mine's 10-year life – and rehabilitation. At current prices, Scotgold believes there could be around $275 million of the precious metals at the site and it could start producing ounces early in 2013.

Reuters reports Peru's government on Friday brokered the first in a series of talks between townspeople and Newmont Mining in a bid to solve a conflict over water supplies at the $4.8 billion Minas Conga project, adjacent to South America's largest gold mine Yanacocha. Newmont was forced to shut down operations for two days at Yanacocha after protesters blocked access to the mine. Minas Conga, partly-owned by Peru's number one precious metals miner Buenaventura, would be the biggest investment ever in Peru's mining sector. Buenaventura reported a 6% drop in quarterly gold output on Friday.

A massive gold mine proposed for near Kershaw, South Carolina, is enjoying broad community support. A public meeting on Thursday "drew enthusiastic support" for a plan by Romarco Minerals (TSE:R) to revitalize the historic Haile Gold Mine, which closed over 20 years ago, reported local media The State: Most who spoke at a hearing said the Canadian mining company is a good neighbor that will protect the landscape. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hearing drew about 200 people to a local recreation center. “We really do need jobs,’’ lifelong Kershaw resident Mildred Payne said. “We really trust Romarco and everything they’ve done here in Kershaw. We feel they are really working … to make sure they are doing everything right for the people.’’

The Royal Canadian Mint is pleased to announce its initial public offering of Exchange Traded Receipts (ETRs) under the Mint's new Canadian Gold Reserves program. Each ETR provides evidence of ownership in physical gold bullion held in the custody of the Mint at its facilities in Ottawa, Ontario. The Canadian Gold Reserves program marks the expansion of the Mint's successful core bullion and refinery business. Subject to market conditions, the initial offering of ETRs is targeting an issue size of approximately CAD$250 million.

Rural communities in Queensland Australia are more than a little unhappy about state politicians and government agencies allowing mining firms like BHP to set up self-contained separate mining towns cut off from local communities or simply letting miners fly in and out without ever becoming part of local life.