Precious metals dropped on Friday amid a rally in the U.S. dollar and widespread liquidation in the commodities complex.
COMEX gold futures for April delivery settled lower by $15.90, or 0.9%, at $1,725.30 per ounce. In doing so, the yellow metal extended its weekly loss to 0.9% as well and posted its first set of consecutive weekly declines since mid-December. Following the COMEX close, the yellow metal headed further south in electronic trading, to $1,718 per ounce.
Silver futures – per the COMEX March contract – closed lower by $0.31, or 0.9%, to $33.60 per ounce. For the week, silver fell less than gold – by just 0.4% – but also posted its second straight weekly loss.
Gold and silver shares came under pressure alongside the metals, as the Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index (XAU) slid 2.2% to 193.95 in afternoon trading. For the week, the XAU is now lower by 3.2%.
Notable gold miners moving lower included Kinross Gold (KGC) and Randgold Resources (GOLD), which fell 2.2% and 2.1%, respectively. Among silver stocks, Coeur d’Alene Mines (CDE) slipped 2.2% and Silver Standard Resources (SSRI) dropped 2.8%.
Platinum Group Metals Reports High-Grade Results at Waterberg
Platinum Group Metals plans to propose to the Joint Venture Partners that the exploration program be expanded from five to ten drill rigs. A budget will be announced when agreed upon by the Joint Venture. Full Platinum Group Metals News Release.
- 4.77 grams per tonne (g/t) of platinum, palladium, and gold over 4.75 meters (m) for the T2 reef in hole WB005
- 7.28 g/t over 5.00m in hole WB008
- The Company noted the excellent exploration potential of the Waterberg project due to the discovery of consistently high grade intercepts
- Drilling through the Waterberg sediments by the joint venture has discovered a previously unrecognized portion of the Bushveld Complex North of the North Limb
