Gold

Shares of Ivanhoe Mines (TSE:IVN) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) both gained today on news that Mongolia has backtracked on a demand for a greater share of the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold complex. Rio was up 4.94% on the ASX while Vancouver-based Ivanhoe jumped 13.06% on the Toronto exchange. The two companies and the government of Mongolia issued a joint release yesterday saying that all parties have "reaffirmed their continued support" for the 2009 Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement.

Reuters reports Zambia has lifted a ban on metal exports just two days after imposing it to sort out revenue collection and increase transparency in Africa's top copper producer, a minerals ministry official said on Thursday. It's good news for the Zambian mining sector – a lengthy suspension could have further pressured mines already dealing with volatile metal prices in recent weeks. Newly elected President Michael Sata has been concerned – analysts say with good reason – about copper exporters misreporting the amount of ore leaving Zambia, and earlier this week suspended export permits, to put new guidelines in place. Cobalt, gold and nickel also fell under the ban and now all export payments need to be routed via the central bank.

Guyana Goldfields (TSE:GUY) got a nice bump today after the company announced an agreeement with the Guyana government for developing its Aurora gold project. The stock was up around 8.5% on nearly-double average volumes on the Toronto exchange.

Gold and gold receivables held by euro zone central banks rose by €56.8 billion to €420 billion after a quarterly revaluation, the European Central Bank said on Wednesday. Net foreign exchange reserves in the Eurosystem of central banks rose by €13.2 billion to €191.1 billion after the revaluation, the ECB said in a weekly consolidated financial statement. The combined balance sheet of the ECB and the 17 national euro zone central banks grew by €80.8 billion to €2.289 trillion, the statement showed. The euro fell against the dollar on Wednesday as worries about a Greek default persist and one day after the first European bank had to be bailed out.

Canada's North American Palladium said it plans to expand its flagship mine in Northern Ontario at a cost of around $75 million for the first phase of the project. Phase 1 of the Lac des Iles expansion should be completed in the fourth quarter of next year when the shaft will begin operating at a rate of 3,500 tonnes per day. The mine is located northwest of the city of Thunder Bay, and its primary deposits are palladium with some platinum, gold, nickel, and copper by-products. The company, which also operates two gold mines in Quebec, received a bump at the opening of trade in New York with the stock up 3.3% in a softer broader market.

The WA Government has urged apprentices to stick with their training after new figures indicating four out of ten drop out. At some major training providers up to half of all apprentices quit in their first year, with many moving on to highly paid but unskilled mining jobs.

Businessweek reports on the day it cleared and matched its first gold trade the London Metal Exchange which handles some 80% of global trade in metals futures, told members on Tuesday that it has receive "many" expressions of interest from potential bidders. The 134-year-old exchange is facing increased competition from other exchanges in Asia and is plagued by a backlog of industrial metals particularly aluminum that’s building at warehouses. LME-monitored warehouses contain 6.7 million metric tons of metal and at some warehouses such as Detroit it can take as long as seven months to withdraw metal. The LME is looking to start trading silver next year.

US stocks were driven down at Tuesday’s start with the Dow Jones falling as much as 250 points as Belgium's Dexia become the first Eurozone bank to be bailed out before making a dramatic about turn during the last hour of trade to end up 153 points or 1.4%. The S&P 500 dropped shortly after the opening bell only to end up 2.25% at 1,124 points, but is still down 18% over the last four months. The resource-heavy TSX composite index were almost at a two-year low before making up some of the lost ground to end down just two-thirds of a percent. Gold could not capitalize on the ongoing volatility and fell further after hours to trade at $1,623/oz. Bullion had briefly dipped below $1,600/oz before noon.

CME Group, which operates the largest  US futures exchanges, will from today increase to $500 million the amount of physical gold its US clearing members can post as collateral for margin requirements, more than double the existing $200 million. The Chicago-based firm which first accepted bullion two years ago is the latest of a number of  exchanges including IntercontinentalExchange and other financial services companies like JP Morgan that accept the use of gold as collateral, which essentially places the precious metal in the top tier of asset classes alongside government bonds and currencies. The World Gold Council is also lobbying to have the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision  do the same, which could have widespread repercussions for bullion.