Precious Metals Hold Gains, XAU Inches Higher

Thursday, December 6, 2012, 4:45pm EDT Written by GoldAlert Staff.

Gold and silver futures maintained their modest gains on Thursday afternoon despite further strength in the U.S. dollar. The greenback rallied against the euro currency after the European Central Bank (ECB) downgraded its 2013 GDP forecast to negative 0.9% from positive 0.3%.

COMEX gold for February delivery settled up by $8.00, or 0.5%, at $1,701.80 per ounce after reaching an intra-day high of $1,704.80. Silver futures for March delivery at the COMEX closed with a gain of $0.16, or 0.5%, at $33.11 per ounce.

Gold and silver initially rallied alongside precious metals, but gave back the majority of their gains in afternoon trading. The Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index (XAU) climbed by as much as 1.5% to 162.71, but finished up by just 0.1% at 160.62.

(Get price targets, rankings, upgrades and downgrades on over 90 gold and silver stocks at GoldAlert Pro – http://pro.goldalert.com)

While the XAU only advanced slightly, several of its component companies fared substantially better. Shares of Eldorado Gold (EGO) rose by 1.7% to $13.58, Kinross Gold by 1.3% to $9.63, and Royal Gold (RGLD) by 1.8% to $81.14.

Commenting on today’s strength in gold, Jeffrey Wright – a managing director at Global Hunter Securities – stated that “It is based on bargain hunting along with European Central Bank cutting its economic growth forecast. So, a little safe-haven action, coupled with the end of short-term profit taking.”

Premier Gold Mines Completes Royalty Transaction

PREMIER GOLD MINES (PG.TSX) announced that it has completed the previously announced business combination of its royalty subsidiary and Bridgeport Ventures Inc to form a new publicly traded entity, Premier Royalty Inc., continuing under symbol BPV.TSX. The Canadian-based gold company also noted that Premier Royalty's common shares and certain warrants have been conditionally approved to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols "NSR", "NSR.WT" and "NSR.WT.A", respectively. The change is expected to be implemented next week under a separate announcement. Full Premier Gold Mines Press Release.

HIGHLIGHTS:

All existing directors and management of Bridgeport resigned, other than Hugh Snyder and Shastri Ramnath who will continue as directors of New Bridgeport
Premier Gold Mines will have the right to nominate six of the eight directors of New Bridgeport and the new management team shall be set by Premier Gold
Premier Royalty features a high quality cash-flowing royalty portfolio on several gold mines across North America, South America, and Africa
The newly-created company also has several promising earlier stage exploration and development royalties in its pipeline

Abraham Drost, Chairman of Premier Royalty:

"With a number of cash-flowing royalties in place and a pipeline of earlier stage royalty assets, the close of this transaction marks a promising launch for Premier Royalty Inc. and a fruitful outcome for Bridgeport and Premier Gold. We look forward to maintaining a track record of growth organically and through the acquisition of additional cash flowing and near-term cash flowing royalties with a focus on stable jurisdictions in the Americas and elsewhere.”

PREMIER GOLD MINES VS. S&P 500, XAU

Shastri Ramnath, Bridgeport President and CEO:

"The acquisition of Premier Royalty by Bridgeport will expose Bridgeport shareholders to a well-managed company with a diversified portfolio of gold royalty assets, many of which are in production and operated by prominent gold producers and will form the core of a business with excellent growth potential, particularly in the current economic climate."

INTERACTIVE PREMIER GOLD MINES CHART

upgrade Flash Player

GOLD PRICES. GOLD STOCKS. GOLD NEWS.

Precious Metals Hold Gains, XAU Inches Higher

Premier Gold Mines Completes Royalty Transaction