With prices surging US$8 into the mid-US$320-per-oz. range, producers of the yellow metal proved to be the only bright spot in the U.S. markets during the report period ended Sept. 24.
The U.S.-listed gold majors shone brightly: Newmont Mining shot up $1.02 to US$29.44; AngloGold rose $1.19 to US$28.45; Gold Fields gained 20 to US$13.80; Ashanti Goldfields advanced 32 to US$5.99; and Harmony Gold moved up 21 to US$16.60.
While silver prices popped up in sympathy, by 5 to US$4.63 per oz., the U.S. silver stocks went in the other direction: Coeur d’Alene Mines fell 11 to US$1.74, Hecla Mining dropped 27 to US$3.90, and Apex Silver Mines retreated 32 to US$15.
For yet another week, base metal miners reflected a growing realization that the global economy is showing no signs of turning around any time soon. Aluminum leader Alcoa sank $1.95 to US$19.57, Copper miner Phelps Dodge plumetted $2.71 to US$24.93, and Brazil iron-ore miner CVRD declined $1.02 to US$23.85.
Among the diversified giants, BHP Billiton was down 92 to US$9.42, Rio Tinto retreated $6.81 to reach US$62.45, and Anglo American dropped $1.26 to end at US$11.39.
Even stronger gold could not help Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, which crashed $1.10 to US$12.20 as it reported it would exceed third-quarter production targets at its flagship Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Freeport estimates that aggregate mine production and sales for the quarter will exceed 231,540 tonnes copper and 1 million oz. gold, which would enable the company’s attributable share to exceed 200,000 tonnes copper and 840,000 oz. gold.
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