Nautilus Minerals announced on Thursday that they were granted offshore exploration licences in Fiji. The Fijian Government has granted the company 14 special prospecting licences, covering a total of approximately 60,000 km2. The territory is considered highly prospective, having been the subject of marine research by Japanese, French and other scientific cruises in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The licences each have an initial term of two years.

New Earth Potash announced the closing of a non-brokered private placement successfully completed largely due to the efforts of PowerOne Capital Markets Limited. The private placement consisted of 21,575,000 units at a price of 25 cents per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $5,393,750. Each unit consists of one common share of the company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant.

The Web documentary "Welcome to Pine Point" by combining video, photographs, text, music and narration and then blurring the boundaries among them, pushes storytelling and documentary filmmaking into new territory. "Welcome to Pine Point" is the story of a small lead and zinc mining town in Canada's Northwest Territories that physically disappeared from the map after the mines closed in 1988. The first buildings were erected in 1952 and at its peak it had 1,200 inhabitants.

Revett Minerals announced on Thursday record quarterly revenues of $18.8 million, a 102% increase compared to the same period last year. The Company also increased its cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of the second quarter to $14.7 million from $8.8 million at the beginning of the year. For the three months ended June 30, 2011 the Company had net income of $7.9 million or $0.23 per share. These record results are due to higher metal prices, significantly improved metal grades, and higher metallurgical and operating efficiencies.

Investors aren't the only ones rushing to profit from the booming value of gold. Refiners, who buy scrap gold from dealers and private owners, say they are also seeing an upsurge in activity. "It is great for business," says Terry Hanlon, director of the

Gold Fields, one of the world's top five gold producers, announced June quarter earnings that were up 15% to US$186 million, compared with US$158 million in the March quarter. During the same June quarter last year, Gold Fields made US$120 million. The company announced its quarterly results on Wednesday.

North American Palladium announced financial results and operational updates for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011. Highlights were production of 46,971 ounces of payable palladium at a cash cost1 of US$335 per ounce; realized palladium price of US$751 per ounce, giving an operating margin of US$416 per ounce, and total operating margin of US$20 million for the palladium produced; revenue of $51.4 million; and adjusted EBITDA of $15.4 million.

Gold Hedge reports that a German newspaper is telling its readers that it's time to buy gold. Bild Zeitung, is Germany’s biggest- selling newspaper, is the best-selling newspaper outside Japan and has the sixth-largest circulation worldwide. Bild encouraged German people to invest in gold as the global debt crisis continues to deteriorate and cause turmoil in global markets.

South Africa's gold output fell 5.7 percent in volume terms in June while total mineral production fell 0.7 percent compared with the same month a year earlier, data showed on Thursday.