MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — U.S. MARKETS — Rising gold saves miners

The Dow Jones industrial average posted a modest gain of 63.3 points to 10,995.63 during the pre-holiday report period ended Nov. 23.

Spot gold on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose to US$298.40, pushed by a late-week surge in anticipation of Britain’s pending auction on Nov. 29.

The surge helped miners salvage gains out of otherwise weak trading, including Newmont Mining, which picked up 50 cents to close at US$23.25. New York Stock Exchange-listed Homestake Mining ended the week up 19 cents to close at US$8.75, Ashanti Goldfields advanced 19 cents to US$3.88, Nasdaq-listed Durban Roodepoort Deeps was up 16 cents to US$1.97 on heavy trading, and Peru’s Buenaventura closed up 94 cents to US$16.69.

However, Anglogold lost 88 cents to close at US$27.56, and mid-sized Meridian Gold dipped 50 cents to US$6.19.

In copper, Phelps Dodge was down $3.31 to close at US$52.50 as the Comex spot price held steady at US78 cents per lb. As a result, the company’s merger partner, Cyprus Amax Minerals, was off $1 to US$18.31.

Southern Peru Copper fell $1.13 to US$14.75, while its parent company, Asarco, was removed from trading after completing its merger with Grupo Mexico.

Class A and B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold dropped $1.63 and $1.37, respectively, to close at US$14.06 and US$16.38.

Rio Tinto continued its climb, ending the week up $4.12 at US$78.12. Platinum producer Stillwater Mining was also up $1.50, whereas De Beer Consolidated Mines slumped 59 cents to US$25.