Gold jumped about $5 higher in Asia and then fell off a few dollars in London, but it then surged to new highs above $573 in New York before falling off once again to end with moderate gains.  Silver followed a similar pattern and ended slightly higher.  Both metals remain near their recent 25 and 18 and ¾ year highs.

Gold and silver equities gained about 2% in the first hour of trade and remained at about that level for most of the rest of trade before gaining a bit more in the last minutes of trade to end with near 3% gains.

Platinum fell $4 to $1,061, palladium fell $6 to $306, and copper made new all-time highs above $2.30.

More Precious Metals Analysis:

“April gold closed higher today after trading inside Friday's range but staying below last Thursday's 25-year high in the process. The market never went below Friday's close, as it was underpinned by flight to quality buying due to concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions as well as stronger energy prices. However, the stronger dollar limited the gains.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting

“Gold continues to perform very well, despite calls from industry analysts that a correction is due at these levels.  In fact, gold does not appear to want to correct just yet and is looking to run to $600.  A close above the $578-580 mark on the April contract provides the market with an opportunity to see another wave of short-covering. There is definitely room for more speculator participation at these levels; the latest COT report from released on Friday confirms this. 

The correction in the equities on Friday brought in renewed interest on firm metal prices Monday, with the HUI now less than 10 points from record highs.  It appears a retest of 350 HUI is going to occur here and with metal prices running higher, mining companies still have momentum in them.  Overbought conditions remain and a correction in gold and silver will bring us our consolidation in the HUI; question is do we set record highs first?

Overnight we had the release of positive results from Randgold Resources.  Profits more than doubled in 2005 to $41 million with production higher by 54% and total cash costs average $211 as their Loulo mine begins production.  Investors still looking for value can still find opportunities like Randgold Resources in the marketplace.  Strong earnings, growing production and growing resources – a terrific combination here for Randgold Resources (GOLD) as 2006 looks to grow profits significantly.” – Peter Spina of www.goldforecaster.com

The U.S. dollar index continued to gain on the outlook for further interest rate hikes by the fed.  The dollar made a new 5 week high, the euro fell to a 5 week low, and the yen fell to a 7 week low.

Oil started off the day higher on concerns over Iran as they banned spot UN inspections, but it then fell off to end slightly lower as tensions eased.

Treasuries found slight gains on continued demand for the 30-year bond ahead of its auction this Thursday.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P remained mixed and near unchanged as worries over interest rates and Iran kept buyers on the sidelines.

Among the big names making news in the market today were Lafarge, Talbots and J. Jill, GM, Hasbro, Humana, Toshiba, and Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Gold & Silver Stock News Update from GoldReview.com:

Barrick’s increased stake in Placer Dome, Rubicon’s and Agnico-Eagle’s drilling at Red Lake, Placer Dome’s received report on South Deep, Goldcorp’s dividend, Randgold’s earnings, MAG Silver’s board appointment, and Hecla’s doubled silver reserves at its Lucky Friday mine were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.

WINNERS

LOSERS

All of today's gold and silver stock news:

MAG Silver Announces Board Appointment and Issues Stock Options - "MAG Silver Corp Dan MacInnis, President and CEO of MAG Silver Corp., announces the appointment of Dr. Peter Megaw to its Board of Directors effective immediately. Dr. Megaw is a founder and partner in Cascabel/IMDEX, the largest mineral exploration consulting group in Mexico. They are responsible for the generation and acquisition of projects currently in MAG Silver's property portfolio and they also provide exploration services to MAG. Cascabel/IMDEX is also a shareholder in the Company." More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Century Cuts Cash Costs at Sigma by US$81 an Ounce in Second Quarter of Commercial Production-More Cost Savings to Come - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

StrataGold discovers new high-grade gold at Black Ridge, Tassawini - intersects 6.16 g/t gold over 21.32 metres - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Aurora Gold Corporation: Announcement - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Landmark Minerals Inc.: Sahara Initiates Legal Action to Restore Mineral Permits in Algeria - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Goldcorp Declares Second Monthly Dividend Payment for 2006 - "GOLDCORP INC. is pleased to declare its second monthly dividend payment for 2006 of $0.015 per share. Shareholders of record at the close of business on Friday, February 17, 2006 will be entitled to receive payment of this dividend on Friday, February 24, 2006." More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Galantas Enters Financial Public Relations Agreements - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Metanor Starts Drilling on Wahnapitei Property 'Sudbury' Gold and Platinum-Palladium - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Au Martinique Silver Inc. Hits the Ground Running in El Salvador - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Silverado's Nolan Project Hits Gold - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Wescan and Santoy acquire additional uranium claims; Geophysics to begin soon - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Terraco and Metallic Ventures Sign Letter of Intent on Moonlight Property; Moonlight Adjoins Midway's Spring Valley Claims in Pershing County, Nevada - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

New VMS Discovery by Sunridge Gold at Emba Derho Prospect, Asmara Project, Eritrea - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

YGC Resources reports significant results from Shamrock Gold Zone on its Ketza River property - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Normabec : Follow Up Drilling On Several High Grade Intersections, Pitt Gold Property - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

MacMillan Gold Has Raised $2,500,000 In Private Placement - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Midlands Minerals Corporation - initiates technical evaluation of Sian property on the Ashanti Goldbelt in Ghana - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Mundoro Increases Indicated Resource by 26% to 4.8 Million Ounces Gold at Maoling's Zone 1 Deposit - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Marifil Expands Toruel Property Holdings - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

North American Palladium Ltd. Announces a Leak in the Tailings Dam at the Lac des Iles Mine - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Intrepid Minerals Executes Merger Agreement With NuStar Mining - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Fortuna Announces Animas Vein Results, Caylloma Silver Project, Peru - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Additional Drilling Recommended for El Capitan - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

African Gold Group, Inc: Acquisition Of Cominor's 3 Mali Gold Concessions Concluded - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Cream Minerals Options Nickel Copper Property in Manitoba - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Champion Bear commences 2006 Plomp Farm Drill Program - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Gold Hawk Resources Inc.: Private Placement to Raise Up to CDN$14,000,000 for the Tamboraque Mine Acquisition - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Azco Mining Engages Hawk Associates for Investor Relations - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

AfriOre reports positive drilling results from drill hole ZF14 in the southern priority area at its Akanani Platinum Project - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Copper Mineralization and Extensive Alteration Detected in all Holes - More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Hecla's Lucky Friday Doubles Silver Reserves - "Hecla Mining Company today announced that proven and probable silver reserves at its Lucky Friday mine in northern Idaho have doubled from a year ago, to 17.2 million ounces of silver. After accounting for mine production in 2005, 8.7 million ounces of silver reserves were converted from resource to reserve during the year. An even larger resource has been identified beyond that, insuring a long life for this already long-lived mine." More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Rubicon and Agnico-Eagle to Commence DMC Drilling at Red Lake, Ontario - "President and CEO of Rubicon Minerals Corporation is pleased to announce that an up to 3000-metre drill program has commenced at its Dorion-McCuaig property, located in the heart of the prolific Red Lake gold camp. The property is currently under option to Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. who recently executed the formal option/joint-venture agreement with Rubicon." More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Placer Dome Receives Report on Reserves and Resources at South Deep Mine - "Placer Dome Inc. announced today it has received a draft report which summarizes a comprehensive review of the gold mineral reserves and resources at the South Deep mine in South Africa. The report was considered at a meeting of the joint venture partners, Placer Dome Inc. (50%) and Western Areas Limited (50%) on Friday, February 3, 2006." More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Barrick Increases Stake in Placer Dome to 94% - "Barrick Gold Corporation announces that it has taken up and accepted for payment an additional 61 million common shares of Placer Dome Inc. that were tendered to its Offer after January 19, 2006, which represent approximately 14% of the outstanding shares. Together with the approximately 358 million shares taken up by Barrick on January 19, 2006, Barrick now owns approximately 419 million shares, representing approximately 94% of the outstanding shares." More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Randgold Resources Limited - Final Results - "Net profit for the year ended 31 December 2005 of US$40.9 million is more than double that of the previous year ended 31 December 2004 (US$18.79 million), mainly as a result of the improved profit from mining offset by an increase in exploration and corporate expenditure, increased depreciation charges and the first income tax charge for Morila." More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Randgold Resources Ld - Profit more than doubles - "London and Nasdaq listed gold miner Randgold Resources today reported a net profit of US$41 million for the year to December, more than doubling its 2004 earnings of US$18.8 million, on the back of a 54% increase in production and a buoyant gold price." More
- February 06, 2006 | Item | E-mail

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- Written by Chris Mullen

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