Precious metals shares rallied Friday, with the Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index (XAU) jumping 1.1% to 182.50 in early afternoon trading. Gold and silver stocks were bolstered by a rebound in the metals themselves, as COMEX gold futures climbed 1.0% to $1,592.80 per ounce and silver rose 0.7% to $29.47 per ounce.
Among gold producers, Buenaventura (BVN) and Randgold Resources (GOLD) were the XAU’s top performers, with gains of 1.9% and 2.4%, respectively. Silver Standard Resources (SSRI) was the largest gainer among silver companies in the XAU, as it surged 4.1% to $13.33 per share.
Despite Friday’s rally, however, the XAU remains lower by 9.0% this week and is on pace for its worst such stretch since September 19-23, 12 weeks ago. On a year-to-date basis, the XAU’s performance is even worse, as it has tumbled 19.5%. This compares quite unfavorably to precious metals, as gold remains higher by 12.9% in 2011 and silver is lower by just 4.8% this year.
Extorre Hits More High-Grade Gold at Cerro Moro
- Hole MD1391 intersected 11.15 meters (m) at 36.3 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold and 4,412 g/t silver
- Hole MD1405 intersected 4.60m at 27.5 g/t gold and 3,424 g/t silver
- Hole MD1411 intersected 3.55m at 32.8g/t gold and 2,819 g/t silver
- Hole MD1433 intersected 9.00m at 1.3g/t gold and 261 g/t silver at a 420m vertical depth below surface, the deepest intercept to date of significant mineralization at Cerro Moro