MINING MARKETS & INVESTMENT NEWS — U.S. MARKETS — Improving metals help producers

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 22.16 points, or 0.2%, to finish the report period Aug. 4-11 at 10,655.15.

Mining issues inched upward on improving commodity prices. Gold was up to US$258.70 per oz. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The move pushed Newmont Mining up $1 to US$20.19 on heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange. South Africa’s Anglogold showed an impressive gain of $2.88 to close at US$24.88, while Ashanti Goldfields picked up 56 cents to finish the week at US$6.81.

Battle Mountain Gold turned in the highest trading volume for the week, with 14.6 million shares, after the Standard & Poors 500 dropped the company from its list. The miner lost 6 cents on the week to close at US$1.88.

Copper prices held steady at US76 cents per lb. on Comex, despite rising warehouse stockpiles. Producer prices responded favourably, with class A and B shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold rising 19 cents and 63 cents to close at US$16.19 and US$17.94, respectively.

Australia’s Broken Hill Proprietary climbed 44 cents to US$23.44, and Rio Tinto jumped $3.24 to US$78.62. However, Phelps Dodge fell $1.31 to US$57.31.

Peru-based silver miner Buenaventura lost 26 cents to close at US$14.62, while American Stock Exchange-listed Apex Silver Mines added 50 cents to finish at US$12.50.

Nasdaq-listed De Beers Consolidated Mines added $1.50 to finish the week at US$26.56, whereas platinum-producer Stillwater Mining, listed on the American Stock Exchange, lost 88 cents to close at US$22.62.

Nasdaq’s Royal Gold picked up 12 cents to close at US$4, while Chief Consolidated Mining slipped 37 cents to US$3.38.