GOLD

Platinum just finished plunging more than 22 percent from its late August level and the bottom has still not come into view.

Gold fell in choppy trade on Thursday after the European Central Bank held off flagging an imminent cut in interest rates, deflating an earlier rally in assets seen as higher risk, such as equities and the euro.

Shares of silver mining companies Thursday extended the previous day's gains, many rising by more than the increasing value of silver itself.

The Mongolian government, Ivanhoe Mines and partner Rio Tinto have agreed to back a 2009 investment agreement for the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit, ending discussions over possible changes.

High in the hills of Congo's troubled northeast, a modern mine is ready to pour gold for the first time in five decades.

Gold prices rose nearly 1 percent Thursday on strong physical buying from Europe and Asia and diminished selling pressure that had arisen from the need to cover stock market losses.

Alamos Gold Inc. posted a 9 percent rise in production at its flagship Mulatos mine in Mexico, and said it was on track to meet its annual output view.

Union workers at Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s extended their strike at a massive Indonesian gold and copper mine on Thursday for a second month, the longest strike in the country's mining industry.

Gold firmed in Europe on Thursday as a strong recovery in equity markets cut selling of the precious metal to cover losses elsewhere, and as physical buyers took advantage of lower prices to stock up.

Gold rose on Wednesday after dipping below $1,600 an ounce as stock markets appeared to have found their footing, but traders said the metal's correlation with volatile equities could trigger more selling.

Carpathian Gold Inc. is taking out a line of credit with Macquarie Bank Ltd. for $75 million to $97 million, the Toronto-based mining company said Wednesday.

Brigus Gold Corp. said Wednesday that an independent analysis of its northern Saskatchewan project indicates a net present value of $144.3 million assuming a gold price of $1,250.

Guyana Goldfields Inc. said Wednesday it signed a stability agreement with Guyana to develop its Aurora Gold Project.

Klondex Mines Ltd. said Wednesday it has drawn $5 million from a $20 million gold-backed debt facility to fund continued exploration and development at its 100 percent-owned Fire Creek gold property in the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend of northern Nevada.

Industrial commodity prices ended several days of losses on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would take measures to prevent the economy from sliding into recession, although copper and crude oil held near multi-month lows.

Gold prices hovered in a tight range Wednesday as strong physical buying offset renewed optimism among stock investors that Europe might yet avert a sovereign debt-induced recession.

Canada's North American Palladium said it plans to expand its flagship mine in Northern Ontario and expects capital expenditure for the first phase of the project to be around $75 million.

Gold fell more than 1 percent on Wednesday, extending the previous day's hefty losses, as rising equities diverted some interest from the precious metal, and as investors remained wary of buying into the market after its recent sharp volatility.

Gold prices fell Tuesday, along with other safe-haven investments, after the head of the Federal Reserve said the central bank was ready to do more to support economic activity.

Gold price declines turned into a gold price plunge in midday trading Tuesday as stock exchanges pared losses, U.S. Treasuries fell and the dollar reversed its earlier gains to turn modestly lower.

Gold prices turned lower on Tuesday, surrendering early gains as it was caught up in hefty losses across the financial markets due to heightened concerns over the prospect of a Greek default.

Gold prices will rise later this year and into next year, Goldman Sachs said Tuesday, in a note expressing relative optimism about the near-term prospects for the global economy.

Gold prices fell Tuesday, weighed down by panicking investors preparing for the fallout of a Greek sovereign debt default -- damage to European banks and falling business activity on the continent and perhaps the U.S. -- by dumping stocks and abandoning the euro and buying dollars.

Gold mining companies in the second quarter reported their first consecutive quarterly net hedging in 10 years, driven by new hedges by small producers, metals consultancy Thomson Reuters GFMS and French bank Societe Generale said on Tuesday.

The CME Group raised trading margins on platinum and copper futures, hoping to tame volatility in products that have fallen sharply as markets witness what is turning out to be the worst rout since the 2008 financial crisis.

Gold rose 1.6 percent on Monday, its biggest one-day gain in a month, as bullion resumed its role as a haven from turmoil following its worst monthly loss since the financial crisis in 2008.

CME Group Inc., the biggest operator of U.S. futures exchanges, said it will more than double the amount of physical gold it can accept from its clearing members as collateral.

Gold prices jumped Monday as growing pessimism over Europe's finance's drove investors out of stocks, the euro and industrial commodities and into the U.S. dollar and the yellow metal.

European Goldfields said an investment deal with Qatar Holdings will enable it to fully finance projects in Greece at a time when its options were narrowing due to fiscal and economic uncertainty in the country.