Gold futures rallied Monday to fresh all-time highs, with the COMEX August contract settling with a gain of $10.70, or 0.7%, at $1,612.20 per ounce.
The yellow metal reached an intra-day record high of $1,624.30 per ounce earlier today, before paring its gains this afternoon.
Strength in gold was fueled by ongoing concerns over the U.S. debt ceiling, as well as Moody’s downgrade of Greece.
Silver futures, per the COMEX September contract, ended higher by $0.24, or 0.6%, at $40.36 per ounce.
While the price of gold and silver advanced, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) fell 0.2% to 74.23 against a basket of foreign currencies.
Claude Resources Confirms Approach to St. Eugene Mining
CLAUDE RESOURCES (CRJ.TSX, CGR: AMEX) announced that it has approached the Board of Directors of St. Eugene Mining Corporation (SEM.TSXV) with a proposal to enter into a letter of intent for a share exchange transaction for 100% of St. Eugene at a significant premium to its trading price. St. Eugene is a gold exploration company whose main assets include its 35% joint venture interest in the Amisk Gold Project in Saskatchewan (65% owned by Claude) and its 100% owned Tartan Lake Gold project in the Flin Flon area, Manitoba.
Claude noted that as the largest shareholder of St. Eugene (with 9.7% of the basic shares outstanding), Claude is disappointed by the strategic direction of St. Eugene evidenced by the recent announcement, and subsequent suspension, of a highly dilutive private placement with Churchill Natural Resource Partners L.P. that would have resulted in loss of control of St. Eugene at a discount to its trading price. Full Claude Resources Press Release.
Claude noted that as the largest shareholder of St. Eugene (with 9.7% of the basic shares outstanding), Claude is disappointed by the strategic direction of St. Eugene evidenced by the recent announcement, and subsequent suspension, of a highly dilutive private placement with Churchill Natural Resource Partners L.P. that would have resulted in loss of control of St. Eugene at a discount to its trading price. Full Claude Resources Press Release.
Highlights:
* Claude Resources felt it necessary to make its position public given that St. Eugene’s Board of Directors has not positively responded to Claude’s proposal in the timeframe requested.
* The proposal Claude presented to St. Eugene’s Board of Directors was to enter into a letter of intent for a share exchange transaction at a fixed exchange ratio of 0.0601 of a Claude common share for each St. Eugene common share through a friendly transaction. The implied value of the Proposal is approximately C$0.125 per St. Eugene share.
* Claude believes that the Proposal would be particularly compelling for all St. Eugene’s security holders and provide them with immediate exposure to the strong current gold price environment through Claude’s growing production and outstanding exploration upside on its three major projects.
CLAUDE VS. S&P500, XAU
Catherine Gignac, Analyst at Northland Securities:
“Claude is well financed to advance its 2011 development and exploration plans. We look to multiple value creation opportunities in 2011 from the Seabee, Madsen and Amisk assets to drive Claude's shares higher. Catalysts include infrastructure improvements and expansions, mine life extension, and resource growth at exploration properties."
INTERACTIVE CLAUDE RESOURCES CHART
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