GOLD

Peru's government was brokering wage talks on Friday to end another labor strike at Freeport-McMoRan's giant Cerro Verde mine, which churns outs 2 percent of the global copper supply.

Gold prices hovered in a $35 range Friday, virtually spending the day unchanged, as investors fleeing sinking U.S. and European stocks divided their options between the greenback and the yellow metal.

Central banks' gold buying is lifting the price of the precious metal in a trend that analysts expect to continue even if widespread predictions of a price rise to $2,000 by year-end comes true.

Global miner Rio Tinto is fighting a legacy of bad publicity as it tries to persuade the Mongolian public a $10 billion copper deposit it took over from Ivanhoe Mines last year is in safe hands.

Gold prices gained steadily if modestly Friday as demand from India and bargain hunting offset a resumption of investor flight to dollar liquidity.

Gold rose more than 1 percent on Friday but was on track for its biggest quarterly gain this year as concerns that the euro zone debt crisis was far from resolved weighed on stock markets and the euro, lifting interest in bullion as an alternative.

Russian precious metals miner Polymetal is seeking a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange, raising about $500 million in a move it hopes will catapult it into the FTSE 100 bluechip index and hand it currency for acquisitions.

Gold jumped more than 1 percent on Friday after Germany's approval for expanding the euro zone bailout fund offered temporary relief to investors, but the precious metal was heading for its worst monthly decline in three years.

Gold prices hovered in a tight range Thursday as bullish and bearish forces pinned the yellow metal to a virtual standstill.

Gold prices rose on Thursday in choppy trade, with strong physical demand and gains in the euro lending support, but investors remained cautious towards the precious metal after this month's intense volatility.

Silver mining company shares rose solidly Thursday, even though the price of silver itself was up a mere 0.4 percent.

Small Canadian miner Rio Alto Mining Ltd said on Thursday a strike has halted mining activities at its La Arena gold mine in Peru temporarily.

Australia-based Sylvania Platinum Ltd. said Thursday it applied for a permit to mine in the northernmost part of South African.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the central bank might need to ease monetary policy further if inflation or inflation expectations fall significantly.

Gold prices held steady Thursday after German lawmakers, by a surprisingly large majority, accepted a bigger financial burdern in bailing out weak Eurozone economies and strong Asian demand for physical gold offset a weaker dollar.

The euro rose against the dollar on Thursday as the German parliament approved the euro zone rescue fund's new powers, though Skepticism over the lack of a comprehensive plan to deal with the region's debt crisis was seen to be checking gains.

Up to 1,500 striking workers at Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s giant gold and copper mine in Indonesia's remote Papua province protested outside a government office on Thursday, urging authorities to help end a dispute over pay.

Mongolia's quest to renegotiate a 2009 deal to develop the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit might create a crisis of trust for foreign investors, but analysts said the decision could help it through a difficult legislative session starting next week.

Germany's parliament approved new powers for the euro zone's crisis fund on Thursday but it was not clear if Angela Merkel got enough votes from her coalition to silence rebels worried about funding a series of bailouts of countries like Greece.

Ardent Mines Ltd. expects to buy mineral rights in north-central Brazil next month, the U.S.-based company said Wednesday.

Canadian gold mining company Banro will start producing gold at its Democratic Republic of Congo mine on Oct. 10, ramping up output to 120,000 ounces per year by January, the company said on Wednesday.

South African gold miner Anglogold Ashanti will invest $250 million each year through 2016 to raise its Brazilian output of the precious metal by two thirds, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Gold prices slumped 2 percent Wednesday as investors braced for a key vote on the future of the European bailout fund and readjusted portfolios ahead of the fourth quarter.

Zimbabwe is hurting investor confidence and stalling recovery by promoting a law to force the transfer of foreign-owned firms to local ownership, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday.

On Monday gold concluded its biggest three-day plunge in nearly 30 years, and prices struggled Wednesday under the weight of three factors -- the absence of which would sharply boost the chance of the yellow metal to resume its climb toward $2,000 per troy ounce.

Mexican miner Minera Frisco, owned by the world's richest man Carlos Slim, said on Tuesday it was cutting its silver and copper hedges for this year and next, citing a significant decline in metals prices.

Silver coins being offered by the U.S. Mint have been pulled from the shelf after a recent 26 percent drop in silver's value, in what is expected to be a pause to re-price the coins.

Gold prices fell in the last week more than 10 percent, their longest such plunge since 1983, in a plunge that left the metal's reputation as safe-haven investment bruised, or worse.

Canadian explorer MDN Inc. said it found high-grade gold at its Nikonga project in Tanzania.