Gold Seeker Closing Report – Gold & Silver Gain over 1%

There were no major economic reports today, but there was plenty to plan ahead for tomorrow in that there is a fed meeting and FOMC policy statement at 2:15PM EST. A ¼ point rate hike to 4.75% is expected, but views are mixed as to what the fed will say about future rates. Many are hoping for hints towards a halt in the raising of interest rates soon, but many others speculate that the fed will change little or nothing in their statement and therefore indicate further interest rate increases. Most are already expecting another ¼ point rate hike after tomorrow’s rate hike to bring us to 5% at the fed’s next meeting in May, but views are mixed as to where the fed goes from there. Also tomorrow at 10AM is Consumer Confidence for March expected at 102.0.

	Close	Gain/Loss
Gold	$566.80	+$6.60
Silver	$10.86	+$0.17
XAU	137.25	+2.89%
HUI	324.75	+3.42%
GDM	1015.58	+3.06%
JSE Gold	2797.18	+4.00%
USD	90.05	+0.01
Euro	120.14	-0.20
Yen	85.69	+0.59
Oil	$64.16	-$0.10
10-Year	4.701%	+0.026
T-Bond	110.9375	-0.3125
Dow	11250.11	-0.26%
Nasdaq	2315.58	+0.12%
S&P	1301.61	-0.10%

Gold started off a couple dollars lower in Asia, but it then rose throughout trade in London and New York and ended near its highs with a 1.18% gain to close just $5.40 from its 25 year closing high of $572.20 that was set on February 2^nd. Silver rose in Asia and London before it eased a bit in New York, but it still ended with a 1.59% gain and made a new 22 year high.

Euro gold rose over €470 near new all-time highs. Platinum gained $19 to $1,060 to come within $14 of its 26 year closing high of $1,074 set this last January 31^st. Platinum’s all-time high is $1,189.50 and was set on March 5^th, 1980. Palladium gained $9 to $336 to a new 3 and ½ year high and copper rose to a new record high at about $2.40.

Gold and silver equities rose over 3% in the first hour of trade and remained near their highs into the close.

“The gold market continued to extend the upside extension created by last Friday's reversal and with minor upside action could begin to turn a series of longer term technical indicators into the bull camp. With private sources suggesting that China might be forced to buy gold because of rising currency reserves and South African stocks running to new all time highs off strength in the metals it would seem like the bull wave is firmly entrenched. With Taiwan gold trading for the first time and Dubai silver expected to trade on Tuesday morning there would seem to be plenty of hype around to further the spike in prices.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting

Oil traded mostly slightly lower as militants in Nigeria released their last remaining foreign hostages. This action eased geopolitical concerns a bit, but prices still held relatively strong above $64.

The U.S. dollar index traded mostly slightly lower but rose to near unchanged by the close of trade. Treasuries fell and pushed the yield on the 10-year to about 4.7%. The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P remained near unchanged and ended mixed. Most are waiting until the FOMC policy statement before taking any further action in nearly every aspect of the market.

Among the big names making news in the market today were Zurich Financial, Raytheon, Ericsson and Lucent, Sanofi and Zentiva, Walgreen’s, and Morgan Stanley.

Crystallex’s feasibility study approval, Pacific Rim’s drill results from South Minita, Orezone’s approved budget for the Essakane gold project, Kinross Gold’s CFO appointment, and Silver Wheaton’s bought deal financing were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.

Pacific North West Capital Corp. - New Resource Estimate Expands River Valley Resource - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Valencia Appoints Doug Bache as President and Chief Executive Officer - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Buffalo Gold Ltd.: Tribute to Mr. John Tully - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Acero-Martin Closes CDN $3.6 Million Private Placement - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Gold Canyon Proposes Flow-Through Private Placement of $750,000 - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Pacific Gold Corp. Announces Convertible Debenture Retired - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Sur Commences Review of Colombian Gold Exploration Portfolio - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Crystallex stock soars on feasibility study OK - "Shares of Crystallex International Corp. soared 21 percent on Monday after the Canadian miner said it won approval for a feasibility study at its big gold project in Venezuela. Crystallex's stock jumped as high as C$5.10 on the Toronto Stock Exchange within minutes of the market's open, before retreating to C$4.42 for a gain of 21 percent in the early afternoon. More than 6 million shares traded, making it the third most actively traded stock." More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Kodiak Reports Assay Results from First Hole at Caribou Lake, Drilling Continues to Intersect Additional Massive Sulphides - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Dundee Precious Metals Inc.: Chelopech Update - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Patricia Mining Corp. Announces Changes to Management Team - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Matamec Acquires Option on Montclerg Gold Property, Closing of Two Private Placements, Appointment of a New Director - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

GoldQuest Trenching Returns 48 Meters at 5.24 g/t Gold in Oxide-Drilling Commences - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Franklin Positioned to Benefit as Zinc's Tight Supply and Strong Demand Pushes Prices to Record Highs - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Pacific Rim Mining Corp.: South Minita Delineation Drilling Yields Additional High Grade Gold - "The latest results from the South Minita drilling further expand and better define the three parallel veins that comprise this gold zone. Barring the near-term discovery of any new mineralized areas in the Minita - South Minita corridor that would necessitate further follow-up drilling, the Company anticipates imminently commencing an updated resource calculation to include the South Minita deposit in the El Dorado reserve and resource base. The results of the updated resource estimate are currently expected to be available by June 2006." More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Orezone Announces $9.3M Budget for Essakane Project, Program to Complete Pre-Feasibility Study - "Orezone Resources Inc. is pleased to announce that its joint venture partner Gold Fields Limited has approved US $9.3M in expenditures for the Essakane gold project in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The program will consist of continued drilling of the Essakane Main Zone and surrounding targets to expand resources, ongoing engineering work relating to the pre-feasibility study, and a significant re-assaying program. The latest budget will take the project through to September, 2006 and increases Gold Fields' total commitment to the Essakane Project to over $30 million." More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

New Gold Occurrence Discovered in the Tulawaka Region, Tanzania - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Gingerich To Join BacTech Board - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Largo Announces Completion Of Earn-In Of 51% Interest In Macuchi Au-Cu-Zn-Ag Project, Ecuador - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Marathon Announces Financial Results for 2005 - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Consolidated Spire Ventures finalizes core drilling contract for Prospect Valley, Merritt, B.C. - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Midlands Minerals Corporation announces completion of a brokered private placement financing of $2,875,000 - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

YGC Resources reports high grade results from the Manto Gold Zone on its Ketza River property - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Liberty Star Stakes Additional Claims at North Pipes, Arizona, Acquiring 25 New Uranium Pipes for 107 Pipes in Total - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Pelangio Drills 126.3 Grams Gold Over 2.3 Metres - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Tao Minerals Secures $1 Million Equity Financing - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

GoldSpring, Inc. Retains Geologist to Oversee Exploration - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Idaho General Mines, Inc. Purchases the Hall-Tonopah Molybdenum &Copper Property in Nevada - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Canadian Dundee creeps closer to Chelopech upgrade - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Globex Vends Suffield Mine Property - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

World Ventures Expands Team in Preparation for Underground Sampling to Confirm Reported High Grade Gold Assays - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Magnus International Resources Expected to File its Quarterly 10Q-SB Filing on Monday 27 March 2006 - More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

MIBAM Approves the Las Cristinas Gold Project - "Crystallex International Corporation reported today that at meetings convened by the Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana, Crystallex was informed by the CVG it has received official notice from the Ministry of Basic Industry and Mining advising that MIBAM has formally approved the technical, economic and financial Feasibility Study for the Las Cristinas gold exploitation project. In addition, Crystallex has received formal confirmation of this approval directly from MIBAM itself." More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Premarket Movers: Gaining on Rival's Loss - "Also gaining was Toronto gold miner Crystallex International Corp., which announced the government of Venezuela approved its plan to develop a new mine in the South American country. Crystallex shares added 97 cents, or 31 percent, to $4.12 on INET, from their American Stock Exchange close at $3.15 Friday." More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Kinross Announces Appointment of Thomas M Boehlert as CFO - "Mr. Boehlert has more than 20 years experience in finance and banking. Most recently, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Texas Genco of Houston, an independent electric power company. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Direct Energy of Toronto, a North American energy services company. Mr. Boehlert was also Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sithe Energies of New York, an international independent electric power company. Mr. Boehlert spent 14 years as a banker at Credit Suisse in New York and London where he was responsible for covering energy companies and project finance activities." More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Silver Wheaton to raise C$175 mln in bought deal - "Silver Wheaton Corp. said on Monday it would raise C$175 million ($149 million) on a bought deal basis and use the proceeds to repay bank debt related to a recent acquisition." More
- March 27, 2006 | Item | E-mail

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