Gold and silver futures oscillated between gains and losses on Thursday as financial markets stabilized following yesterday’s widespread gains.
COMEX gold for February delivery – the most actively-traded contract – climbed to as high as $1,758 early this morning, but later fell to $1,737 before settling with a loss of $10.50, or 0.6%, at $1,739.80 per ounce. However, in electronic trading following the COMEX close, the yellow metal rebounded to $1,749.40 per ounce.
Silver futures for March delivery settled lower by $0.05, or 0.1%, at $32.76 per ounce on the COMEX. Gold’s sister precious metal reached an intra-day high of $33.495 this morning but surrendered its gains as trading progressed.
Platinum inched lower as well, with the January 2012 contract dropping $3.60, or 0.2%, to $1,557.20 per ounce.
The modest declines in precious metals came despite further weakness in the U.S. dollar. The greenback slid 0.2% against a basket of foreign currencies this afternoon, while the euro advanced 0.2% to 1.3469 against the dollar.
Extorre Reports Significant Increase in Gold Resources
The new resources will form the basis of an updated mining and economic study for the project, which is scheduled for release during the first quarter of 2012. Extorre will evaluate the potential for a mine development at a larger scale (1,000-1500 tonnes per day). The study will be at a confidence level sufficient for the Board to make a financing and mine development decision. Full Extorre Gold Mines Press Release.
- The new resource estimate is based on all drilling data available as of October 10, 2011 and includes maiden contributions from four new mineralized zones: Zoe, Martina, Carla, and Nini.
- Indicated and Inferred resources increased by 46% and 166%, respectively, compared to the previous resource estimate.
- Considerable potential for additional mineralization remains at the majority of the veins included in the resource, both along strike and at depth.