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Mexico went from 7 to 100 tonnes in a flash; Russia, Thailand bought too
How strange. The IMF never issued a press release about the Mexican, Russian, and Thai gold purchases:
http://www.imf.org/external/news/default.aspx
Apparently to the IMF only gold sales are news.
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Bank of Mexico Buys 100 Tons of Gold in February, March
By Rhiannon Hoyle
The Wall Street Journal
May 4, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870393710457630311407359541...
LONDON -- Mexico's central bank purchased almost 100 metric tons of gold in February and March, another signal that emerging markets are likely to steadily raise their gold reserve holdings, industry participants say.
The purchase -- reported in the International Monetary Fund's statistics on international reserves -- follows a shift in the gold market to net central bank buying, following years of official sector sales, and should be welcomed as a positive sign for the yellow metal, said Jonathan Spall, director of commodities distribution at Barclays Capital.
... Dispatch continues below ...
Sona Drills 85.4g Gold/Ton Over 4 Metres at Elizabeth Gold Deposit,
Extending the Mineralization of the Southwest Vein on the Property
Company Press Release, October 27, 2010
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Sona Resources Corp. reports on five drillling holes in the third round of assay results from the recently completed drill program at its 100 percent-owned Elizabeth Gold Deposit Property in the Lillooet Mining District of southern British Columbia. Highlights from the diamond drilling include:
-- Hole E10-66 intersected 17.4g gold/ton over 1.54 metres.
-- Hole E10-67 intersected 96.4g gold/ton over 2.5 metres, including one assay interval of 383g of gold/ton over 0.5 metres.
-- Hole E10-69 intersected 85.4g gold/ton over 4.03 metres, including one assay interval of 230g gold/ton over 1 metre.
Four drill holes, E10-66 to E10-69, targeted the southwestern end of the Southwest Vein, and three of the holes have expanded the mineralized zone in that direction. The Southwest Vein gold mineralization has now been intersected over a strike length of 325 metres, with the deepest hole drilled less than 200 metres from surface.
"The assay results from the Southwest Zone quartz vein continue to be extremely positive," says John P. Thompson, Sona's president and CEO. "We are expanding the Southwest Vein, and this high-grade gold mineralization remains wide open down dip and along strike to the southwest."
For the company's full press release, please visit:
http://sonaresources.com/_resources/news/SONA_NR19_2010.pdf
According to the data, the central bank of Mexico bought 93.3 tons of bullion over the two-month period, vastly increasing its total reserves from just 6.9 tons in January.
"Prior to this, they held very little metal, so it is a decent size change," Mr. Spall said. "People are going to view this as bullish, and will now be closely watching other countries in the region, and elsewhere, for further changes."
May IMF data also show continued buying by Russia, of 18.8 tons, and Thailand, of 9.3 tons.
The official sector was a net seller for around two decades before becoming a considerable buyer last year, according to the World Gold Council.
"Mexico seems to be following the trend established by several other central banks recently and is moving toward restoring a prior balance between gold and currency reserves," said George Milling-Stanley, managing director of government affairs at the WGC.
The Bank of Mexico traditionally holds most of its reserves in U.S. dollar-denominated investments.
Since selling more than $30 billion in the exchange market to shore up the peso between October 2008 and October 2009 during the global financial crisis, the central bank has been building reserves to record levels as protection against future bouts of global financial turmoil.
The main source of reserves is oil revenue, as the bank changes dollars for state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos. The bank also uses put options to buy up to $600 million a month from commercial banks when the peso is appreciating against the dollar.
The peso is currently trading at its strongest level against the dollar since early October 2008, closing Tuesday at 11.5620 pesos after dipping below 11.50 pesos in recent sessions.
Foreign reserves were a record $125.8 billion as of April 29.
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Prophecy Resource Spins Off Platinum/Palladium Venture:
World-Class PGM Deposit in Yukon
Company Press Release, January 18, 2011
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Prophecy Resource Corp. (TSX-V:PCY)and Pacific Coast Nickel Corp. announce that they have agreed that PCNC will acquire Prophecy's Nickel PGM projects by issuing common shares to Prophecy.
PCNC will acquire the Wellgreen PGM Ni-Cu and Lynn Lake nickel projects in the Yukon Territory and Manitoba respectively by issuing up to 550 million common shares of PCNC to Prophecy. PCNC has 55.7 million shares outstanding.
Following the transaction:
-- Prophecy will own approximately 90 percent of PCNC.
-- PCNC will consolidate its share capital on a 10 old for one new basis.
-- Prophecy will change its name to Prophecy Coal Corp. and PCNC will be renamed Prophecy Platinum Corp.
-- Prophecy intends to distribute half of its PCNC shares to shareholders pro-rata in accordance with their holdings.
Based on the closing price of the common shares of PCNC on January 17, $0.195 per share, the gross value of the transaction is $107,250,000.
For the complete announcement, please visit:
http://prophecyresource.com/news_2011_jan18.php
