US markets fall during the Jan. 10-14 trading week

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 319.85 points or 0.88% to 35,911.81 and the S&P 500 dropped 14.18 points or 0.30% to 4,662.85. Spot gold climbed US$21.10 per oz. or 1.17% to finish the Jan. 10-14 trading week at US$1,818.10 per ounce.

Rio Tinto climbed US$3.16 to US$75.40 per share. The company said it is buying four battery-electric trains for use in the Pilbara region of Western Australia as part of its plan to cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. The 7MWh FLXdrive battery-electric trains from Wabtec Corp. will be used to transport ore from its mines to its ports and will be recharged at purpose-built charging at the port or mine. The trains will also be able to generate additional energy while in transit through a regenerative braking system, which takes energy from the train to recharge its onboard batteries. Initial trials in the Pilbara will take place in early 2024.

Shares of Yamana Gold climbed US28¢ to US$4.18. The company reported preliminary operating results for the fourth quarter and full year 2021. Production during the fourth quarter reached 281,388 gold-equivalent ounces (GEOs) (240,718 oz. gold and 3.14 million oz. silver), exceeding the company’s previous guidance of 270,000 GEOs. Full-year production hit 1.01 million GEOs (884,793 oz. gold and 9.17 million oz. silver), exceeding its earlier guidance of 1 million GEOs. Fourth-quarter all-in sustaining costs are expected to be about US$970 per GEO, about 8% below its AISCs reported for the three earlier quarters.  Yamana forecasts full-year AISCs of about US$1,030 per GEO, including inflation impacts of about US$20 per GEO, which were not included it previous guidance. The company ended the year with a cash balance of $305 million.

Barrick Gold rose US58¢ to US$18.68 per share. Earlier this month the gold major announced that Christine Keener would be chief operating officer of its North American region starting in February. She was formerly vice president, Europe and North America, for Alcoa and prior to that worked as a certified public accountant for PricewaterhouseCoopers. She has an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Peabody Energy’s shares increased 18.2% to US$13.44. The coal producer announced an offer to purchase for cash up to US$38.61 million in aggregate accreted value of its 8.50% senior secured notes due 2024 at a purchase price equal to 94.94% of the accreted value of the 2024 notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest. The offer expires on Feb. 14.

Shares of Sandstorm Gold rose 9% to US$6.15. The company reported that it sold about 67,500 attributable gold ounces and realized preliminary revenue of US$114.8 million for the full year of 2021, both representing a record for the company, it said. During the year, Sandstorm realized preliminary total sales, royalties, and income from other interests of US$120.7 million.