Time to shine: gold traders most bullish since 2004, ETF holdings close to all-time record

Gold traders and analysts are the most bullish in at least seven years as investors accumulate metal at the fastest pace since August to protect their wealth from a widening European debt crisis. Twenty-one of 22 surveyed by Bloomberg expect bullion to rise on the Comex in New York next week, the third consecutive increase and the highest proportion in data going back to April 2004. Holdings in exchange-traded products backed by gold rose 27.5 metric tons this week, within 1% of the record set almost three months ago. On Friday, gold snapped a 2-day losing streak adding $29 to trade just under $1,790. The gold price peaked above $1,900 at the end of August.

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Frik Els | November 13, 2011 | 11:15 pm

Australia mines minister: Carbon, mineral ‘super’ tax won’t deter investors. India begs to differ

Australia's Minister for Resources, Martin Ferguson, has rejected reports in the Indian press that the carbon tax and mineral resources rent tax will deter foreign investment as it pushes up the price coal imported from Australia. Australia's controversial carbon pricing scheme passed parliament last week. The laws – fiercely opposed by the country's mining sector which says it will lead to more than 20 mine closures and cost thousands of jobs – will force Australia's top 500 polluting companies to pay a tax of $24.50/tonne on carbon emissions from July 2012.

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Frik Els | November 13, 2011 | 6:10 pm
Soweto, Johannesburg

Radioactive sludge seeping from hundreds of Johannesburg mines compared to Chernobyl

Business Times reports thousands of people face evacuation from greater Johannesburg in the Gauteng province – the economic heartland of South Africa – due to toxic sludge from abandoned gold mines laced with high radiation levels. Acid mine water, the result of groundwater flowing through underground shafts, is decanting from an old uranium mine and rising by half a metre a day beneath the city of 7 million people. Mass evacuation of informal settlements is one of several recommendations in a government-commissioned plan drafted in June to deal with 380 acid mine dumps – many of them radioactive – left over from more than century of underground mining. Uranium is often mined as a byproduct of gold in South Africa.

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Frik Els | November 13, 2011 | 1:16 am
China launches massive military manhunt for coal mine killers

China mine blast death toll rises to 30,13 still trapped

Xinhua reports the chief of China's work safety watchdog on Saturday decried the poor safety standards at a coal mine where rescuers had pulled out 30 bodies and are still searching for 13 others following a gas outburst three days ago. Director of the State Administration of Work Safety Luo Lin, who led a investigation of the Sizhuang Coal Mine, located in the county of Shizong in southwestern Yunnan province, described the mine's safety measures as "very poor." The mine was found to be operating illegally, having had its license revoked a year ago, according to a statement from the provincial coal safety supervision bureau. Latest official data shows that more than 2,600 people died in mining accidents in 2009.

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MINING.com Editor | November 12, 2011 | 7:35 pm

Generation X and Y turning into Generation Au

According to a new report by MarketWatch, gold's allure is shifting to a new generation. Many people in their 20s and 30s have little faith in equities and, unlike older investors, are more inclined to consider alternative investments. Others seek tangible, hard assets as a counterweight to stocks, bonds and cash in the aftermath of the 2008 US financial crisis. And these new investors are not just gold hoarders of the doomsday variety.

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Frik Els | November 11, 2011 | 9:54 pm
B.C. Liberal government slashes rate in long-awaited LNG tax

US Keystone rebuff turns Canada’s attention to Northern Gateway pipeline

Reuters reports the US move to put off a decision on TransCanada Corp's proposed $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline for 18 months is a significant blow for Ottawa, which has strongly backed the project. The Canadian government and the Alberta oil industry will now turn their attention to the 1,170km Northern Gateway pipeline project from Alberta to a new marine terminal in northern British Columbia to serve Asian markets. But the $5.5 billion project which has significant Chinese backing, is already almost a year behind schedule and would not go into operation in 2017 at the soonest. Even this schedule is optimistic: starting in January, an unprecedented 4,000-plus people – mostly greens – will speak for a collective 650 hours at public hearings.

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Frik Els | November 11, 2011 | 12:27 am

Scrap gold, silver, platinum can comprise half an airplane’s recycling value

You're probably aware that gold demand is mostly for jewelry -- in fact, over three-fourths of it is. But unknown to many people, notes Dillon Gage Metals, is that gold, silver and platinum are also employed in aeronautics and space travel. In the last plane ride you took, the craft was most likely coated with a thin, gold film that helped control temperatures during the trip.

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Mineweb | November 10, 2011 | 10:03 pm

Glacier acquires 50 percent interest in InfoMine

Vancouver, B.C., November 10, 2011— (TSX:GVC) Glacier Media Inc. is pleased to announce that, through its affiliates, it has acquired a 50% interest in InfoMine Inc. (www.infomine.com), a leading online provider of rich information and intelligence to the global mining industry.

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Michael Allan McCrae | November 10, 2011 | 9:16 pm