GOLD PRICES

Tanzania's mining sector grew only slowly this year due to uncertainty over government policies, a prolonged energy crisis and infrastructure constraints, a senior mining official said on Thursday.

London-listed gold miners Petropavlovsk and African Barrick Gold retained full-year production guidance, after a strong third quarter, further helping to rebuild investor confidence after missing targets last year.

African Barrick Gold Plc said its profit rose to a record in the third quarter boosted by higher production and all-time high gold prices.

Tanzania plans to raise royalty payments on exports of gold by the end of this year as it seeks to restructure the mining sector, Minerals and Energy Minister William Ngeleja said Wednesday.

Gold prices held steady on Wednesday, shrugging off the downgrade of Spain's sovereign credit rating, as investors wait for clarity on Europe's plans to tackle the debt crisis at this weekend's European Union summit.

Kazakhstan, the second-largest ex-Soviet economy and oil producer after Russia, has enough reserves to weather a new wave of financial crisis and keep its currency stable, the National Bank governor told Reuters Insider TV.

Gold demand in India, the world's largest bullion buyer, will be strong in the October-December quarter, a traditional time for festivals and weddings, despite high inflation that eats into savings and multiple growth-choking central bank rates hikes.

Gold prices will climb to $2,075 next year on six key variables that, UBS said Friday in a report on the precious metal.

Gold prices ticked up Friday as market sentiment swung back towards risk and away from safety, but there was little evidence the yellow metal was ready to break out of recent trading limits.

Gold fell nearly one percent and silver dropped three percent as precious metals followed the stocks down in a generally gloomy outlook for U.S. and European economies.

BNP Paribas cut its gold price forecasts for 2011 through 2013, following the recent pullback in the precious metal's prices and said a further correction may be possible in the near term.

Gold prices fell modestly Thursday as a rising dollar, boosted by signs the world's No. 2 economy is slowing, offset both steady Asian demand for jewelry and bullion as well as safe-haven buying by Euro-wary investors.

Gold prices held steady on Thursday, as optimism for a solution to the Eurozone crisis underpinned sentiment, while tight physical supply in Asia continued to lend support.

Gold prices rose 1 percent in Europe on Wednesday as the dollar fell to a three-week low against the euro, and after the Slovak parliament's rejection of a plan to expand the bloc's rescue fund stoked concerns over the Eurozone debt crisis.

Gold prices settled where they started Tuesday, virtually unchanged, as uncertainty about Europe's banks offset Asian demand for physical gold.

Gold prices hovered in a tight range Tuesday, slightly below its opening level, as Slovak lawmakers put off voting on whether to support the expansion of a Eurozone bailout fund.

Gold prices surrendered some value Tuesday as the euro slipped, and the dollar rose, ahead of a vote by Slovak lawmakers on whether to approve an expansion of Europe's bailout fund.

Ghana is in talks with gold miners in the country, Africa's second-biggest producer, over additional taxes so as to benefit from the soaring price of the precious metal, the government said on Tuesday.

India gold rose on Tuesday to the highest in more than a week, on a weak rupee, while demand in the local spot market remained moderate as despite the price rise consumers were buying for a key festival, dealers said.

Gold eased 1 percent early Tuesday, giving up some of the previous day's gains, as stocks and the euro were pressured by waning optimism over a new plan to tackle euro zone debt, and ahead of a vote in Slovakia to ratify changes to the bloc's rescue fund.

Gold prices surged Monday and the dollar plunged as investors piled into stocks in the hope that Europe's sovereign debt crisis may finally be ending and the continent's financial system is beginning to stabilize.