Gold-backed ETF holdings grow at fastest pace in seven years

Tom Albanese says "assumptions that the floor price would not go much below $120 a tonne might be valid next year but not long beyond that."

Forbes reports billionaire investor George Soros is placing a very particular bet on gold by buying $40 to $50 million in shares of a Chinese jeweler ahead of its $2.8 billion IPO. Founded in 1929 Chow Tai Fook is bigger than Tiffany's and is named after founder Chow Chi Yuen and “Tai Fook” means fortune, prosperity and luck in Chinese.

De Beers' second mainland China standalone was opened earlier this week. De Beers Diamond Jewellers has opened a second store in China, in The Friendship Mall in Tianjin, its second standalone in six months.

North American stock exchanges are on a tear today after central banks made more funds available to lenders, giving investors hope for a way out of the European debt debacle. The markets were also cheered by better than expected private sector job growth in the United States. The mining-heavy S&P/TSX Composite was up 2.5% to just over 12,000 at time of writing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 384 points, or 3.3%, the most on a closing basis since Aug. 11, according to Bloomberg. Spot gold was up $32 from yesterday to $1747 which is just above the 20-day moving average of $1744, noted Kitco. Silver was up marginally to $32.86 from yesterday's $31.92, while benchmark copper was up more than 5% to a two-week high of $7,885/tonne. Zinc, lead, aluminum and nickel were also up from Tuesday.

Offer prices for iron ore dropped to three-week lows, reports Reuters, with steelmakers in top producer China mostly staying out of the market amid thin demand. Despite the low steel demand limiting Chinese buying interest, Vale SA said that it expects valemaxes, the world’s biggest iron-ore carriers, to eventually be allowed into ports inChina, the biggest user of the commodity.

Century Iron Mines, an iron ore miner with projects in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, has reached a $120 million development deal with WISCO Resources, one of the third largest steel producer in China. WISCO Resources, which holds an approximate 25% interest in Century Iron, will invest $120 million in exchange for a 40% interest in three of Century Iron Mines' projects, Duncan Lake, Attikamagen and Sunny Lake. Funds will be used for exploration and development. WISCO Resources is a major subsidiaries of Wuhan Iron & Steel Corporation, headquartered in Wuhan in the province of Hubei in the People's Republic of China.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is drafting new standards for the gold industry which will raise the entry barriers and it will force companies with daily gold processing capacity of less than 50 tons to shut down. Citing unidentified sources who attended a national gold mining conference, the industry ministry is drawing up a blueprint to better regulate gold miners, such as shutting mines with a daily gold processing capacity of below 100 tonnes and halting approvals for small ore processing companies. China, the world's largest bullion producer, currently has no limits on gold production and production is determined by the gold producers.

Chinese energy giant China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) took over oil sands operator Opti Canada Inc. (TSXV:OPC) today in a deal valued at Cd$2.1 billion. This acquisition gives China's top offshore oil company its second stake in a Canadian oil sands property. With the close, reports Reuters, CNOOC gains a 35 percent stake in the troubled Long Lake oil sands project, which operates well below its 72,000 barrels per day capacity as operator Nexen Inc (NXY.TO) works to overcome problems with the C$6.1 billion project's reservoir.

“Chinese companies that are looking to invest in Canada do not want to become a Potash-like story themselves. Face and company reputation are important,” Peter Harder, president of the Canada-China Business Council told The Globe & Mail in an interview in Beijing this week as executives gathered for the council’s annual general meeting.