the world's largest gold miner barrick gold

The world's largest gold miner Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) is looking to buy more mines, chief executive Aaron Regent said on Thursday, but he declined to comment on potential interest in junior miner Exeter (XRC.TO).

Exeter's chief geologist said this week the company had signed confidentiality agreements with several parties including Barrick that are interested in the Caspiche project in Chile, although a company lawyer said the firm was not in deal mode or active discusions.


SINGAPORE (Reuters) -

Gold ticked higher on Friday, hovering near a 3-month high hit the previous day, while holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD: Quote, Profile, Research) struck a record on safe-haven buying related to volatile currencies and the debt problems of Greece.

Bullion, which was heading for its biggest weekly gain since early January, has also benefited from expectations of low interest rates in the United States, though a firm dollar could still ignite selling. Gold in euro terms XAUEUR=R held near a record.

Spot gold XAU= was at $1,151.20 an ounce by 0159 GMT, up $1.05 from New York's notional close on Thursday, when it rose to as high as $1,153.65 an ounce, its strongest since mid-January.

Gold, which was about 6 percent below a lifetime high above $1,200 hit in early December of 2009, hovered well above the closely watched 14- and 50-day moving averages.

"It's really a consolidation of the existing trend and some additional impetus from the Greece situation," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia in Sydney, referring to the gains.

"Until we get some more news, I think we're probably likely to consolidate. We might not see much movement in the next few days. Ultimately, we might have a little bit retracement before moving higher."

A rise in ETF holdings to record reflected a steady investors interest in gold. The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD: Quote, Profile, Research), said its holdings hit an all-time high at 1,140.433 tonnes as of April 8, surpassing an earlier record of 1,134.03 tonnes touched on June 1, 2009.

COMEX June gold contract GCM0 fell $1.3 to $1,151.6 an ounce, having risen to its highest in almost three months on Thursday.

The euro edged up on Friday as investors cut record-high short positions, but the single currency is likely to stay on the defensive as worries about debt-laden Greece simmer. [USD/] The euro regained some footing after European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet assured markets that a Greece default was unlikely.

Among other precious metals, thinly-traded silver rose to its highest since mid-January, while platinum group metals held near this week's highs.

Palladium has gained nearly 3 percent this week on purchases by auto catalysts makers in Japan and investment demand spurred by the prospects of a recovery in the global auto sector, but some analysts remained cautious.

"From experience, any upward trend is marked by phases of weaknesses and dips and we remain of the opinion that industrial end-users should use such dips to cover some of their future demand," Heraeus said in a weekly report.

"Here, for now one should not speculate on large drops, as at $470, $440 and then again at $410 an ounce there is strong technical support."

Platinum, which also rose nearly 3 percent this week, had purely tracked its sister metal higher, with dealers in Japan reporting an absence of physical buying from the industrial sector.

(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)



With gold being $1150 US per oz . RNG stated for every $25
increase in gold RNG makes $1M more profit. With gold two weeks ago being $1100 per oz . I would like to ask some questions??
RNG long term gold cost per oz is $700 AUD ??

How much is Barrick charging for crushing?
When do RNG get paid for their gold ??
On spot price the day of delivery to Barrick or what??
If RNG have made more money with the high gold price, how much more money / shares will need to be pumped back into the company before RNG start showing a profit??
How much more EXPLORATION is going to be done and how is it going to be funded??
Who was the RNG company presentation directed to ?? and under what pretense?? for what reason?? More share dilution?? Is someone/ company going to make a take over bid or is RNG going to put themselves in a position that they can not or do not what the be taken over??