Gold

Newcrest said in a brief announcement today that it has suspended operations at the Bonikro gold mine "as a precautionary measure" and evacuated expatriates to neighbouring Ghana. This is not the first time Bonikro has had to be closed - a mine gained late last year with the takeover of Lihir Gold with its much larger prize of the Lihir Island gold project in Papua New Ginea.

Barker Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V:BML) reported results from the 2,000m trenching program on its silver/gold/lead Black Bear project. The 100% owned project on China Mountain is located 74 km northeast of Williams Lake, in the Cariboo region of British Columbia.

Newmont Nusa Tenggara, a unit of U.S. gold miner Newmont Mining Corp , plans to launch an initial public offering in the second half of this year, said Martiono Hadianto, the firm's president director, on Tuesday.

Ecuador expects companies including Canada's Kinross Gold to invest $7 billion in gold and copper projects in the next seven years, as the OPEC member tries to diversify its economy by encouraging mining. Natural Resources Minister Wilson Pastor said on Tuesday five projects will be signed in the next few months.

Top global miner BHP Billiton has moved into the feasibility study stage of preparing a long-awaited expansion of the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in South Australia.

Leighton Holdings subsidiaries Thiess and Leighton Contractors have announced three important new contracts. Thiess has secured a $166 million contract to provide bulk earth works and selected infrastructure for BHP Billiton Iron Ore’s Jimblebar mine near Newman in Western Australia.

A Chinese TV station last week reported ‘through the roof’ gold demand which was leading to a shortage of supplies for fabrication.

According to the multi-year deal, Agnico-Eagle would get an option to own up to a 70% stake in Mranda Gold’s Alaska Gold […]

Global gold miner AngloGold Ashanti reported record earnings in 2010, and credited higher gold prices for the stellar results. In a suite of reports released today, the South Africa-based company said it earned US$787 million last year, up from $708 million in 2009. Revenues were up 41%, from $3.916 billion in 2009 to $5.514 billion in 2010. Image by AngloGold Ashanti