Gold down before UK auction

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 166.52 points, or 1.6%, to 10,727.19 during the report period July 5-11.

Gold was off at US$282.20 per oz. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange in anticipation of Britain’s second of six gold sales, set for July 12. Weak gold deflated producers, including Newmont Mining which fell 62 to close at US$20.88. New York Stock Exchange-listed Homestake Mining slipped 25 to US$6.56, while South Africa’s Harmony Gold Mining slid 41 to US$5 on the Nasdaq, and Peru’s Buenaventura dipped 25 to US$16.94.

Phelps Dodge bounced back after hitting a new low in the previous report period. The company climbed $1.75 to close at US$39.75, while copper prices held firm at US82 on Comex. Australia’s Broken Hill Proprietary dipped 38 to close at US$23, while Southern Peru Copper lost 25 to close at US$12.25. Class B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold were off 37 to close at US$9.38.

Silver prices dipped below US$5 per oz., spelling trouble for producers. Coeur d’Alene Mines lost 44 to close at a new low of US$1.94, while shares of Hecla Mining also hit a new low: US94, down 12.

Other commodity producers fared better, including platinum digger Stillwater Mining, which advanced $1.31 to US$28.56 after talk of Russian shipments to market failed to materialize. De Beers Consolidated Mines gained 68 to close at US$25.12, while South Africa’s Anglo American was up $1.24 to US$50.62. Junior Canyon Resources jumped 13 to US88, after resolving its lawsuit with Toronto-listed Franco-Nevada Mining.