MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — U.S. MARKETS — Brit sale buoys gold

A weak U.S. dollar pushed the Dow Jones industrial average down 311.86 points, or 2.9%, for the report period ended Sept. 21.

Spot gold, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, jumped to US$260.20 per oz. after a strong showing at Britain’s second auction of 25 tonnes of gold. The increase started too late in the week for producer prices to respond fully, though Newmont Mining climbed $1.75 for the week to close at US$21.81. South Africa’s Anglogold dropped 88 cents to US$26.56.

Homestake Mining picked up 57 cents to close at US$8.19 in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange; Ashanti Goldfields gained 25 cents to close at US$7; Battle Mountain Gold added 19 cents to US$1.94; and Meridian Gold tacked on 63 cents to close at US$5.88.

Copper prices inched upwards to their highest levels in more than a year as the Comex spot price reached US83 cents per lb. However, most producers still lost ground, including Asarco, which dropped 94 cents to close at US$20.44. Phelps Dodge dipped 37 cents to finish the week at US$57.19, while Broken Hill Proprietary shed 19 cents to US$23.

Class A and B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold slid 13 cents and 6 cents to close at US$13.31 and US$14.94, respectively. London-based Rio Tinto declined $3.75 to close at US$67.75.

American Stock Exchanged-listed Apex Silver Mines lost 13 cents to US$13.25, though Peruvian silver miner Buenaventura picked up 50 cents to close at US$14.75, as silver prices held steady.