mineral exploration project – commodity prices – mining stock- trade and market

Stocks in Australia’s biggest mining companies rose Monday as the government’s plans for a new tax on their profits were thrown into doubt after the nation’s closest election in almost 50 years delivered no clear mandate.

Trading in the rest of the market was flat, however, and Australia’s chamber of commerce urged companies to continue investing despite what will likely be two or three weeks of uncertainty about who will govern the country for the coming three years.

The center-left Labor Party — which has ruled for the past three years and remains in...

China’s gold producers will extend this quarter’s rally as demand for the precious metal increases and inflation exceeds government forecasts, according to Central China Securities Holdings Co. and Guoyuan Securities Co.

Zijin Mining Group Co. and Zhongjin Gold Corp., the nation’s two biggest bullion producers, are good investments as consumer prices are expected to rise around 3.5 percent this month, Li Jun, a Shanghai-based strategist at Central China, said in an interview yesterday. Inflation accelerated to 3.3 percent in July, the highest since October 2008.

“In this...

Gold held above $1 230/oz an ounce in Europe on Friday as concern over the outlook for the global economy supported interest in the metal as a haven from risk, but gains were capped by fresh strength in the dollar.

Spot gold was bid at $1 230,45/oz at 09:26 GMT, against $1 230,10 late in New York on Thursday. US gold futures for December delivery eased $2.80 to $1,232.60.

The precious metal rose to a peak of $1 237,15/oz on Thursday after weak US jobless and manufacturing data knocked the dollar and boosted interest in assets seen as lower risk. It later pared those gains as the...

Stocks and the dollar dropped and Treasuries rallied, sending the yield on the two-year note below 0.5 percent for the first time, as lower-than-estimated growth in company payrolls added to evidence the economic recovery is slowing. Gold extended the longest advance since November.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.4 percent to 1,121.64 at 4 p.m. in New York, trimming a drop of as much as 1.7 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 1.1 percent, reversing earlier gains. Two-year Treasury yields fell to as low as 0.4977 percent. The dollar slumped to an eight-month low...

Gold futures rose, extending the longest rally since November, as the dollar dropped against the euro, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative asset.

The greenback fell as much as 1.1 percent after a payroll report signaled the U.S. will be slow in recouping jobs lost in the recession. Gold reached a three-week high. The metal has advanced 10 percent this year, climbing to a record $1,266.50 an ounce on June 21.

Brazilian mining giant Vale’s second-quarter net profit surged on higher iron ore prices and stronger demand.

Vale, the world’s largest producer and exporter of iron ore and iron pellets, reported a second-quarter net profit of $US3.71 billion, up from $US790 million in the same quarter a year ago.

The miner, which is also the world’s second-largest nickel producer, said revenue for the quarter jumped 95.3 per cent to $US9.93bn, compared with $US5.1bn a year ago.

Prices for iron ore, which provides the bulk of Vale’s revenue, more than doubled in...

Iron ore production fell last year for the first time in seven years but continuing demand for the raw material from the Chinese steel industry ensured that the volume of trade increased again, a United Nations report released today says.

Global production dropped by 6.2 per cent to 1.588 billion tons, according to the report published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in cooperation with the Sweden-based Raw Materials Group.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., North America’s largest iron-ore producer, said it’s still in talks with customers about how they will pay for the steelmaking raw material after a four-decade-old annual price system ended.

Changes to the pricing of iron ore and coking coal are “resulting in a more fluid and uncertain near-term pricing environment for these commodities,” the Cleveland-based company said today in a statement.