Gold

Gold for December delivery traded at $1,789.60 in after hours trade on Tuesday after earlier achieving a new record closing price of $1,785 per ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The previous closing record was $1,784.30 last week Wednesday when gold futures contracts hit an all-time intra-day high above $1,800. Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday the largest gold fund players including hedge fund titan John Paulson stuck with their bullion bets in the second quarter, opting not to follow George Soros who further reduced his gold ETF holdings.

Barrick Gold Corp. closed down slightly and outperformed a weak broader market on Tuesday despite a downgrade from CIBC World Markets, which is advising investors to remain cautious as the miner diversifies into copper. Barrick is up some 12% this summer, tracking bullion's spectacular rise, but investors have not welcomed its move into base metals. In April it outbid a Chinese company for Equinox in a $7.7 billion deal, its first real foray outside gold. The global growth outlook has clouded considerably since then and copper – a good indicator of economic activity – is trading at 9-month lows.

DRC gold mine on track for Q4 production – Banro New York- and Toronto-listed Banro on Monday said its Twangiza gold project is on track to become the first new commercial gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in more than 50 years, with

Yukon-Nevada Gold announced its financial and operational results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011. Highlights for the three-month period ended June 30, 2011 include the Jerritt Canyon Mine whihch produced 22,168 ounces from purchased ore, stockpiles and mining operations in the three months ended June 30, 2011, compared with 18,441 ounces in 2010, reflecting a 20% increase in production despite continued shutdowns.

Oz Minerals reported its half year financial results on Monday. Highlights were revenue of $632.7 million, and reported net profit after tax of $113.9 million with underlying net profit after tax of $189.1 million.

Gold for December delivery rebounded Monday, finishing up $15.40 or almost 1% at $1,758 an ounce, after losing more than $40 over the past two trading days. Gold futures hit highs just above the $1,800 level last week and is up more than 24% for the year. Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the US dropping the gold standard which pegged the conversion rate for one ounce at $35. Most analysts do not expect demand for gold as a hedge against inflation to diminish and speculations that the US Fed will undertake a third round of monetary easing are mounting.

Yukon-Nevada Gold announced that it has closed the Forward Gold Purchase Agreement with Deutsche Bank AG. Deutsche Bank has funded a US$120 million prepaid gold forward facility to Queenstake Resources USA, Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. The facility is a forward contract structured to deliver 173,880 ounces of gold over a 48 month term.

Avocet Mining received the latest results from its drilling programme at its flagship Inata gold mine in Burkina Faso. The drilling programme was conducted over the first half of 2011 within the Company’s existing mine license area.

Almost all major London-based bullion-dealing banks have started charging more for storing Gold in view of the increased demand and shortage of vault space, according to Financial Times.