Gold

Dundee Precious Metals (TSE:DPM) was up 4.83% to close at $8.89 Thursday, on news that the Bulgarian government has approved the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for its Krumovgrad gold project. "Since initially embarking on this project in 2005, we have made great efforts to develop a comprehensive plan for Krumovgrad that addresses the concerns of the community and will prove to be economically beneficial forBulgaria and the local community, as well as DPM and its shareholders," President and CEO Jonathan Goodman said in a statement.

The mining industry in Quebec is roaring, with $2.92 billion in investment in 2010, up from 43% in 2009. The Institut de la statistique du Québec, which released the findings on Wednesday, said that this was the seventh straight year mining investment increased, and in each of the last three years investment was greater than $2 billion. In March the Fraser Institute warned that changes to the province's tax code would harm business investment, and Quebec slid from first to fourth in the institute's list of mining-friendly jurisdictions. If the changes don't weigh on province, 2011 could be a banner year.

By buying the stake held by defunct broker MF Global, JP Morgan has dramatically boosted its influence in the battle to acquire the London Metal Exchange. As the biggest shareholder JP Morgan now has stronger input into any changes proposed by suitors while making a tidy profit from any sale, but retains the option to team up with others to block a takeover, analysts and industry sources told Reuters. JP Morgan now has a stake of 1.4 million shares or 10.9%, jumping ahead of the former dominant shareholder, Goldman Sachs, but the banks have also come under scrutiny over possible conflicts of interest as it also owns metal warehouses and proved brokerage services. One of the last bastions of open outcry trading, the 134-year old exchange handles some 80% of global trade in metals futures.

The Royal Canadian Mint has a hit on its hands after raising $600 million from the sale of its exchange traded fund alternative, exchange traded receipts backed by physical gold bullion held in the mint’s facilities in Ottawa, Ontario. The Canadian mint, which introduced the ETRs just over three weeks ago, 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. Given the money raised, the Globe and Mail calculates that the ETRs may be the largest initial public offering of the year.

Peru's government urged opponents of Newmont Mining's proposed $4.8 billion Conga gold mine project to refrain from violence during a protest scheduled for today as President Ollanta Humala scrambles to solve the bitter dispute.

Bloomberg reports AngloGold Ashanti, the third- largest producer of the metal, is scaling back a $3 billion, 10-year programme to extend is Mponeng mine outside Johannesburg, South Africa. Mponeng is the world's deepest mine and extends about 4 km (2.5 miles) underground. To meet an output target of 5.5 million ounces of gold by 2015, AngloGold will speed up expansion outside its South African base where barring technological breakthroughs, gold reserves are too deep to be mined profitably and safely. South African gold miners have to contend with some of the highest cash costs in the industry which at some properties are almost double the global average of $620 per ounce. AngloGold's most recent quarterlies showed production at Mponeng declined 8% to 117,000 ounces at $587/ounce.

Uncertainty regarding the never-ending euro crisis and weak data from China sent gold and markets lower. The S&P/TSX Composite Index is off 1.88% and the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index is down 1.93%. Yesterday, gold broke through $1,700 mark but is now back trading at $1,680.

Canadian gold royalties company Franco-Nevada aims to raise C$340-million in an equity offering, it said on Tuesday. The TSX- and NYSE-listed firm said it would use the cash for acquisitions, working capital and general corporate purposes.

Imperial Metals (TSE:III) is extending its Huckleberry mine in northern British Columbia by 7 years. The company said it plans to extend the Main zone pit and build a new tailings storage facility, which will keep the mine running until 2021, 7 years later than the previous plan to close the mine in 2014. The pit is estimated to contain 39.7 million tonnes of ore grading 0.343% copper, with an overall strip ration of 1.46 to 1. Since startup in 1997, the mine has produced an aggregate 870 million pounds of copper, 8 million pounds of molybdenum, and 105,000 ounces of gold and 3.4 million ounces of silver.