Gold shines through auction

Denver — The Dow Jones industrial average was quiet during the report period ended Jan. 23, moving down 9.85 points, or 0.1%, to 10,649.81, while spot gold perked up to US$266.10 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange after the Bank of England’s latest auction of 25 tonnes of the yellow metal.

AngloGold jumped 88 to close at US$14.94, while Newmont Mining held the line at US$16.88 in heavy volume on the New York Stock Exchange. Ghana’s Ashanti Goldfields picked up 18 to close at US$2.56 and Peru’s Compania de Minas Buenaventura gained 87 to close at US$14.12. Nasdaq-listed Gold Fields improved to US$3.77, up 36; Harmony Gold Mining advanced 50 to US$5.12.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold surged after reporting robust fourth quarter earnings. Class A and B shares were up $2.31 and $2.88 to close at US$11.19 and US$11.88, respectively. Phelps Dodge lost 37 to close at US$48.94 and Southern Peru Copper shed 25 to US$13.25, as Comex copper improved to US85 per lb. Australia’s BHP fell 56 to US$20.56.

The big mining houses benefited in the week, including Rio Tinto, which climbed $3.44 to hit US$73.56. Anglo American improved $4 to close at US$51, while De Beers Consolidated Mines gained $1.31 to reach US$30.19.

Stillwater Mining lost a buck to close at US$39, though palladium stayed above US$1000 per oz., while Hecla Mining rose 13 to close at US88 as silver prices improved. The company filed suit against Toronto-based Zemex for not closing on the sale of industrial minerals subsidiary K-T Clay.