Newmont Mining (NEM) Stock Closed Lower Today Amid Falling Gold Prices

Shares of Newmont Mining(NEM - Get Report) are lower by 0.27% to $22.06 in after-hours trading after ending Tuesday's regular trading session down 0.81% to $22.12, as gold prices trade in the red ahead of the Federal Reserve policy meeting that could give clues as to the exact timing of the interest rates hikes, according to Reuters.

Spot gold touched its lowest level since November 7 at $1,142.86 an ounce earlier today. U.S. gold futures for April delivery was down 0.49% to $1,147.60 an ounce as of 4:11 p.m. ET today.

Tomorrow is the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement, following the two day Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting.

Many analysts expect the Fed to remove the word, "patient" from its policy statement, which could bring it closer to raising interest rates, Reuters noted.

Greenwood Village, CO-based Newmont Mining is primarily a gold producer with operations and assets in the U.S., Australia, Peru, Indonesia, Ghana, New Zealand and Mexico.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates NEWMONT MINING CORP as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate NEWMONT MINING CORP (NEM) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed, some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income and reasonable valuation levels. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the stock has had a generally disappointing performance in the past year."

What is Urban Mining?

What is Urban Mining?Urban Mining so people call it, is a business recycling precious metals like gold and silver from electronic waste/E-waste. And gold and silver results obtained so amazing, kilograms of gold and silver produced from electronic waste such as computers, cellular phones, SIM Card .. Etc.In Japan, an electronic waste recycling business is conducted by Eco-System.Co produce gold bars weighing 199.58 - 299.37 KG per month with a value of money earned between U.S. $ 5.9 million - U.S. $ 8.8 Million Dollars. This amount is certainly not with precious metal silver is also produced.

Electronic Recycling is equivalent to Urban Mining at a low cost. E-waste contains a large amount of rare and increasingly difficult to replace Metals: Platinum,Gold,Silver,Gallium,Indium,Palladium. Aside from repurposing rare materials, there is the embedded energy content to consider. In the face of rising energy prices legislators understand we cannot continue to throw our electronic waste stream away which contains a toxic substance and high energy value.

"Urban mining goes way beyond electronics," he said. "It's everything that goes into a landfill that can be taken out."

Gold Prices Continue to Rise

Gold prices continue to rise, this is an excellent investment opportunity for staple investor, the week has begin on a optimistic note. Broad-based buying knowledge across product counters led to price revival in industrial commodities. Gold has formerly once more hogged the lime-light with the yellow metal scaling new high in today’s meeting. The common buying bender in commodities and chiefly gold continued as fears of rise and also the increasing worry between Iran and western world adding to doubt in global trade. The dollar deteriorating next to basket of currencies has also aided to product price gain. December resolution crude oil agreement replaced the November agreement which expired on Friday. This has also eager investors to take fresh bets on the commodity.

Crude oil price rise over $78 a barrel, addition over a 1% in todays sitting amid heightened tension between and Western nations, following Tehran said it would start war games to help defend its nuclear amenities. Nymex crude for January release rise 92 cents to $78.39 a container. The December agreement, which expire on Friday, developed down 74 cents at $76.72 a barrel, weigh down by a stronger US dollar and concern about the power demand outlook. Meanwhile, Iran's military supposed it would start large-scale air defence drills, and a cleric in the radical Guards warn the Islamic Republic would fire missiles. OPEC governor said the crude advertise was in equilibrium and oil supply and demand was shut to each other. Money manager boost net long crude oil position on the New York Mercantile swap in the week during November 17. On MCX crude oil agreement opened stronger tracking abroad markets.

Gold strike fresh record highs on Monday as financial uncertainty and the possible for inflation drew investor to the relative constancy of the asset. Comex December gold rise $18.40 to $1,165.20 an small amount on the Nyme. Spot gold was offer at $1,165.20 an ounce, after have earlier reach a record $1,167.45. The metal's price on Friday finished higher for the sixth successive session. 's acquisition of 200 tones of bullion from the IMF had also boost interest in gold previous this month. On the MCX, bullion counter ongoing strong which gold inking strapping gain in early hours. MCX Gold for December resolution after opening the meeting at Rs 17,408 per 10 gram rise to Rs 17,557 a new life high before correcting to present level of Rs 17,529.

source : Mining News - http://greatmining.com

Gold Mining Tools For the Tour of Gold Miner

Gold mining is the best procedure to have fun in the great outdoors. A growing number of hobbyists are looking for gold mining tools to support their tour of gold mining activities. For these hobbyists, there is no greater excitement than searching for nuggets of gold, just like the followers of the original gold rush back in the 1800s.

Gold Mining Tools - What Do You Need

There are some simple gold mining tools that are essential for any gold miner to have. Practice makes perfect with these tools, and some are easier to learn how to use than others. We recommend starting with gold panning, as this is by far the easiest way to get acquainted with the process.

Gold Pan Supplies

Gold pan is the simplest way to look for gold. It takes a bit of patience and a few simple tools, but it is still a very effective way to find small amounts of gold in streambeds. What you'll need:
o Gold Pan-to filter down to the gold.
o Finishing pan--smaller pan to do the finer filtering.
o Trowel and small pick-to dig up stream bed material.
o Magnet-Gold is not magnetic, so you can magnetically remove magnetic sands.
o Tweezers-for plucking out gold particles
o Snuffer Bottle--Used for "sucking" gold particles out of pan.
o Funnel - Aids in transferring rich sands into sample bottle
o Sample Bottle - A big mouth helps with the transfer, also plastic is safer and won't break.
o Magnifying Glass-to zoom in on sand particles.
o Classifiers, screens, sieves-these are optional, they can help with the filtering process.

Sluice Boxes

Sluice boxes let the stream do the work for you! A very simple sluice box can greatly increase your productivity because you can process more material more quickly. Serious prospectors may want to use a gas powered sluice, which ups your productivity even more.

Metal Detectors

Metal detectors can help a prospector locate gold nuggets. To be effective with this method, you need to know how to use this equipment, you also need to know how and where to look.

Suction Dredging Equipment

A Suction Dredge is for the more serious gold miners. It is like a powerful, underwater vacuum with a gold recovery system gloating on the surface of the water. Most hobbyists will not use this equipment, unless they pay an operator as part of a gold prospecting tour.

Dissolution of Gold as Involved a Strong Oxidant and a Ligating Agent

Many of the chemical reactions of gold compounds are conducted in solution and so it is appropriate to initially consider how soluble gold compounds are obtained from this most attractive but inert metal. Traditionally, the dissolution of gold has involved a strong oxidant and a ligating agent. Thus,gold can be dissolved by treatment with aqua regia (a mixture of nitric acid [the oxidant] and hydrochloric acid [the ligand source], neither of which alone dissolves gold) to form [AuCl4]⋅n(H2O) or by oxidation by O2 in the presence of cyanide ion. However, there are reports of metallic gold dissolving under less harsh conditions.

O2 appears to be the oxidant in this dissolution process, which would appear to have significant implications in the handling of gold nanoclusters that frequently are stabilized by coatings of thiolate ligands.

In related work,dithoxamide/dihalogen compounds have been demonstrated to act as oxidations that are capable of dissolving gold. Exposure of metallic gold to chloroform solutions of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide also results in dissolution with the formation of [AuIIIBr4]. Again O2 from air is the oxidant. Under rather different anhydrous and anaerobic conditions,Me3AsI2 and Me3PI2 in diethyl ether solution will dissolve metallic gold to produce gold(III) complexes in reactions. This products have been isolated as crystalline solids.

Soldering, Brazing, and Solid-State Diffusion Bonding

The three joining processes that will be described here are soldering, brazing, and solid-state diffusion bonding. Soldering and brazing both involve using a filler metal that is heated above its melting point, made to wet the mating surfaces of a joint, with or without the aid of a chemical fluxing agent,leading to the formation of metallurgical bonds between the filler and the respective components.

By convention, the joining process is defined as soldering if the filler metal melts below 450 C and as brazing if it melts above this temperature. In both soldering and brazing, it is uncommon for the original surfaces of the components to be eroded by reaction with the filler beyond the microscopic level (<100m). Solid-state diffusion bonding involves placing surfaces of two components in contact under a loading that at the least is provided by the weight of the upper component and heating the assembly until the voids at the interface have been removed by diffusion (see next section).

There is another important type of joining process—welding—that involves the fusion of the touching joint surfaces by controlled melting by heat being specifically directed toward the joint. Welding, using a laser or a microplasma torch, is being successfully applied in chain making (see under Karat Gold Brazing Alloys later).

Certain properties of gold are used to advantage in metal joining. In particular,

• Gold does not oxidize when heated in air, neither does it tarnish. This metal possesses

excellent corrosion resistance, and in alloys it confers resistance to oxidation.

• Gold forms eutectic alloys with other metals covering a wide range of temperatures,

encompassing soldering and brazing temperature regimes.

• Gold is relatively easy to apply as a surface coating by both physical vapor deposition and

chemical plating.

• Many gold alloys possess enhanced mechanical properties, especially at elevated

temperatures.

• Gold’s low elastic modulus and rapid self-diffusion are beneficial for solid-state diffusion

bonding.

Gold is unusual in that it is the only element on which both brazes and solders are based. However, because gold is the most expensive constituent of solders and brazes, the use of gold filler alloys tends to be limited to high value applications, such as electronics, photonics, and jewelry manufacture.

Record gold prices

Record gold prices fuelled by economic uncertainty and now political instability are driving production, development and exploration to new levels and the entire spectrum of the gold sector will be represented at the two day event.

It has been a remarkable 12 months since the last conference. When that event fnished on March 16, 2010 the gold price had closed the previous evening at $US1,105/oz. At the time the industry was heralding a great age and nothing that the gold price has done since then has dispelled that belief.

Gold reached a 2010 low of $US1,090/oz a few weeks after the conference but since then has broken all records put before it, reaching a new all-time high of $US1,444.40/oz on March 7. Gold equities have followed suit. The ASX’s largest gold company, Newcrest Mining Ltd wen from a May 2010 low of $30.38 share to a high of $43.41 in No vember. Australia’s other producers have followed suit, and there is plenty of them. The last 12 months have seen eight Australian miners pour gold for the frst time as the junio market takes advantage of the favourable price environmen and investor sentiment for precious metals.

While new faces have arrived on the list of Australian gold producers, thanks to a rash of M&A activity, others have disappeared. Newcrest’s $9.5 billion acquisition of the country’s second biggest gold miner, Lihir Gold Ltd, was just one of several multi-billion dollar gold deals put together last year.

In November, Kingsgate Consolidated NL announced a $376 million takeover of South Australian producer Dominion Mining Ltd and followed it up with the acquisition of South American focused explorer Laguna Resources Ltd. One of the rising stars of the Australian gold industry, Avoca Resources Ltd, also changed its guise after announcing a merger with TSX-listed Anatolia Minerals Development Ltd to create Alacer Gold Corp.

On the international front the majors continued to reap the benefts of escalating prices. The world’s biggest gold miner, Barrick Gold Corp, announced its December quarterly results on February 21, proving just how proftable the gold industry can be. Quarterly net income was a record $US896 million ($US0.90/share) adjusted net income rose 57% to $US947 million ($0.95/share) compared to $US604 million ($0.61/share) in the corresponding 2009 period. Full year production was 7.77 moz at lower total, and net cash costs of $US457/oz and $US341/oz, respectively.

But what does the future hold? A poll of 65 analysts conducted by Reuters in January found a median 2011 gold price forecast of $US1,450/oz an ounce, 18% higher than 2010’s average London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) gold fx of $US1,225.60/oz. The forecast is also just above last year’s record high of $1,430.95/oz and clearly out strips an average forecast of $US1,228/oz returned by a similar poll conducted last July.

Cyanide Leaching in the Mining Industries

Cyanide leaching has been used by the mining industries for more than 100 years to extract noble metals. Minerals from which most of the noble metals are obtained are increasingly poorer, so the leaching solution from these processes contain substantial quantities of silver and copper along with gold. In most cases the copper ion concentration is over 100 times higher than the other two metals.The dissolution of gold in cyanide solution is essentially an electrochemical process. The overall reaction is accompanied by the cathodic reduction of oxygen at the surface of the gold particle.

The remarkable success of cyanide as lixiviant for gold is due to the enormous stability of the dicyanoaurate ion. This allows gold to be leached efficiently at a very low concentration of cyanide (<0.01 mole dm-3), and the dicyanoaurate complex remains in alkaline solution even when the free cyanide concentration falls to zero. This contributes to the selectivity of the process.

Another advantage of cyanide is that the reaction takes place in an alkaline environment. The dissolution of gold requires cyanide to be present as the free cyanide ion (CN–). Therefore, the composition of cyanide solution is determined by the hydrolysis reaction.

Hence, it is very obvious that the high alkalinity suppresses the forward reaction, leading to higher cyanide ion concentration in the system. A high pH is also necessary for safety and economic reasons, as HCN is a volatile and poisonous gas that is purged from the leach slurry during vigorous air agitation. An electrochemical study by Dorin and Woods4 has shown a maximum dissolution of gold, silver,palladium, and platinum in cyanide solution at pH 10–10.5.Cyanide loss is very low at pH 11.5, as it mostly eliminates the loss of cyanide through HCN formation. It is 0.1 kg/t NaCN in the 10–10.5 pH range as compared to 2–3 kg at 9.5 pH.4,5 An important advantage of leaching under alkaline conditions is that the dissolution of base metals is substantially reduced, resulting in clearer effluents than those generally produced in an acidic leaching system.The noncorrosive nature of alkaline cyanide solution also means that cheaper materials can be used for the construction of a gold recovery plant.

Process Scrap and Old Scrap

The recycling of gold takes two forms—so-called process scrap and old scrap. The former concerns gold that never ends up in a finished product and returns unused to a refinery for remelt. This includes areas such as the edgings to a sheet of metal once coins have been stamped out or the filings recovered from the polishing or engraving of jewelry. Because this effectively forms part of a continuous loop, it is of no interest to an economist and is excluded from analysis. Old scrap, in contrast, is the metal recovered from finished items containing gold. The vast bulk comes from jewelry, although small amounts are also received from other areas such as electronic goods or dental alloys.

Old scrap is typically the second largest source of supply after mine production, accounting for approximately a quarter of total supply each year. The amount, however, can prove quite volatile, surging, for example, to a then record of about 1,100 tonnes in 1998 on the back of the East Asian economic crisis before slumping to about 600 tonnes the following year.

Selling by individuals during a time of financial crisis is but one reason for dishoarding. However,perhaps the greatest determinant is changes in the price of gold. One example of this would be the increases in scrap seen emerging from the Middle East at times of high gold prices. Other factors nonetheless mean old scrap does not always track changes in the price. A recession, for example, could trigger an increase in scrap as manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers remelt unsold jewelry inventory. Changing fashion can even influence scrap, as we are seeing increases in scrap in western Europe as inherited jewelry pieces—considered too dated to be worn by their new owners—are remelted.

ABOVEGROUND STOCKS

In addition to newly mined metal, gold can also be sourced from aboveground stocks, either through the recycling of fabricated products (see section that follows on scrap) or the mobilization of bullion stocks. The latter comprises central bank sales (see following); disinvestment by individuals (covered in the section on investment); and advance sales—the hedging described previously—by mining companies. During the past decade, supply from aboveground stocks has typically accounted for about a third of annual supply.

GFMS estimates put aboveground stocks of gold at the end of 2007 at 161,000 tonnes (the equivalent of over 60 years of current mine production) [1]. It is the sheer scale of these aboveground stocks that sets the yellow metal apart from other commodities. The reason for this buildup is primarily the virtual indestructibility of the metal—almost all of the gold mined throughout history still exists in some form. The metal’s durability also allowed gold to become a highly suitable store of value and form of money over the ages, for individuals and state bodies.

The composition of aboveground stocks is also important because it determines the speed and likelihood of the return of the metal to the marketplace. Gold as bullion (usually in bar form) typically comes back the most readily, and stocks in this form stood at about 55,500 tonnes. Just over half of this bullion is held by central banks and other official sector bodies, with the balance being held by private individuals and institutions. More, however, just over half of the total, is held as jewelry items. Lastly, about 19,000 tonnes have been absorbed by other types of fabrication (such as electronics), the least likely area to get recycled back into the market. Just under 4,000 tonnes cannot be accounted for and can be considered irretrievably lost or as true consumption. This would include manufactured items containing gold that have gone to landfill, any metal lost at sea, and so forth.

Producer Hedging

A hedge is a transaction that acts to manage the risk of adverse price movements in an asset such as gold. Gold producers typically enter into hedging contracts for one of three reasons. The first is in order to secure a forward premium in price. The second reason is to seek to protect revenues against falling gold prices, while the third is as part of the terms of a financing package. The simplest method of hedging is the forward sale, whereby a producer enters into a contract in which it can receive a fixed payment for a certain amount of gold at a predetermined date in the future. Regardless of any price movement between entering into the contract and its expiration, the producer will realize this guaranteed price on delivery.

There are three main parties involved in a basic gold hedge contract: the producer; the bullion bank, which acts as the producer’s dealer; and a central bank. To place a hedge, the producer advises its dealer that it wishes to forward sell, for example, 1 tonne of metal. The dealer then immediately borrows this amount from a central bank (paying a leasing fee), which it immediately sells into the spot market, agreeing to return the 1 tonne by a certain date. The proceeds from this sale are then placed in a high-yielding cash account (subtracting the dealer’s fee and the leasing fee on the borrowed gold), usually generating a premium for the producer. The producer is obliged to return 1 tonne of gold to the bullion bank by the preagreed date. At the time of implementation, the action of the bullion bank of borrowing gold and selling it into the spot market increases the supply of gold to the market. However, when the gold is returned, usually by delivering mine production from the producer’s account, supply reaching the market is correspondingly constrained. Hedging activity therefore represents an acceleration of supply to the market, but the overall balance of supply and demand is maintained over the lifetime of the transaction.

Hedging and de-hedging activities are thus important in the wider gold market. To give a historical perspective, the 1990s were largely characterized by unrelenting downward pressure on the gold price, which led to steadily increasing levels of hedging undertaken by producers who were seeking revenue protection from further declines. In 1995, hedging had a particularly noticeable impact, reaching 475 tonnes and thus accounting for about 13% of total supply. By September 1999,however, the gold price had made an abrupt change of direction and started to climb. Many hedged producers were caught off-guard and were unable to take advantage of soaring spot prices. On the back of this crisis, the year 2000 was the first year since the late 1970s when the global producer hedge book did not expand. There has since been a protracted period of de-hedging, in which producers have both delivered into and also prematurely closed out their hedge contracts. This is accomplished either by bullion purchases from the market, delivered to the bullion bank,or through delivering their own production into contracts before they mature. De-hedging posted a record level of 447 tonnes in 2007, representing just over 11% of total gold demand. Expectations for higher gold prices and investors’ associated anti-hedging sentiment were the chief reasons for this.

It can be seen that, pre-1999, producer hedging activity was a significant supply component in the gold market, whereas post-1999, hedging activity became a significant demand component of the market. Today, many more exotic and complex financial derivatives and option structures exist, in addition to the humble forward sale, through which producers can hedge. The effect of these more complicated contracts is, however, ultimately the same: hedging activity by gold producers affects the timing of mine supply reaching the market.

China is the World’s Leading GOLD Producer

China has now become the world’s leading GOLD producer, overtaking South Africa in 2007. Market liberalization has had a dramatic impact on China’s gold mining sector, and one of the most important changes has been the end to official purchases in 2003, with producers no longer forced to sell all of their production to the People’s Bank of China at regulated prices. 

A further impact of deregulation has been increased participation from foreign investors. Chinese mine production has also shown a remarkable ability to quickly respond to rising gold prices and has risen accordingly with the price. From delivering around 72 tonnes in 1987, it increased production almost fourfold by 2007, when it produced 281 tonnes. Asian production has also been boosted by the contribution from Grasberg in Indonesia, the other of the two largest mines in the world.

“Big Four” of Gold Producing Countries

“Big Four” of gold producing countries—South Africa, the United States,Australia, and Canada. For over a century, South Africa was the world’s largest gold producer. Its peak output reached 1,000 tonnes in 1970, which accounted for about two-thirds of total global production in that year. In 2007, however, it produced 270 tonnes, representing 11% of the world total of 2,476 tonnes. One of the main reasons for the country’s declining production is due to the maturity of many core South African operations; after over a century of intensive mining, shallow deposits have been exploited and mines have become progressively deeper and in many cases seen a fall in ore grades.

Deep level mining is labor and technology intensive and, therefore, costly, requiring increasingly rigorous safety measures. Furthermore, the South African industry has experienced a pressing shortage of skilled employees with labor competition from the wider extractives and construction industries.

After reaching peak production in the late 1990s, production from the United States, Australia,and Canada has also been declining. Although output rose during the early part of the decade, low gold prices during this period meant that few new operations were brought into production, as producers were left unable and unwilling to spend capital on exploration, thereby inhibiting output in the latter part of the decade. Many mines were closed as they became uneconomical to maintain. Moreover, many operations were mature by the late 1990s, so the most attractive deposits had already been extracted.

The Science and Technology of Gold

The science and technology of gold is currently going through an exciting period of its history and is leading to new industrial and medical applications of this unique metal. It is unique, not only because of its properties (it is one of only two colored metals, for example, as well as being the most noble and most malleable), but because of its history and its role in society, where it serves as a monetary asset, for adornment, as well as an industrial and decorative metal.

Gold has a unique color and has been prized throughout history for its beauty and value, but it also has an interesting science that we are just beginning to unravel and exploit. Traditional applications have centered mainly on its metallic properties, and its chemistry has been rather overlooked,but that omission is being redressed. The surprising discovery of gold’s catalytic properties in recent years and the development of its nanotechnology are leading to some exciting applications with enormous potential in industry and medicine.

The interest in the science, technology, and applications of gold has grown considerably over recent years, as evidenced by the huge increase in scientific publications in learned journals, the growth in attendance at the series of international gold conferences held since Hanau (it returned to Germany in 2009), and the expansion of readership of the sole journal dedicated to gold, Gold Bulletin. It is interesting to note that over $13 billion worth of gold was used in industrial (and medical) applications in 2007, and consumption in this sector is predicted to grow significantly, much of it in new and green applications. Gold has a significant role to play in our quality of life during the twenty-first century.

The Supply of Gold

The supply of gold comes essentially from two distinct sources, namely new mine production and previously mined metal now sitting aboveground as stocks in various forms. New mine production provides the greatest amount of gold to the market each year, typically accounting for around two-thirds of total supply. In recent decades, annual production has exploded, up from less than 1,000 tonnes in 1980 to a peak of 2,645 tonnes in 2001, although more recently, output has fallen somewhat.

The bulk of supply from aboveground stocks comes from the recycling of the metal contained in manufactured (or fabricated) products, the vast majority of which comes from jewelry. It is therefore not surprising that the supply from recycling, typically referred to as old scrap, has generally kept to a rising trend, reflecting the addition each year to the pool of available metal from that year’s jewelry production.

Other areas of supply from aboveground stocks include sales by central banks, hedging by mining companies (a form of advanced selling), and disinvestment from private holdings (which is reviewed in an upcoming section under demand as investment). Net sales by central banks have been a constant feature of the gold market since 1989, and over the past decade, these provided an average of about 500 tonnes of gold to the market each year. Central banks do purchase gold, but buying globally on a net basis has not been seen since 1988. Hedging by mining companies is, in essence, equivalent to gold producers selling their future production at current prices. Such transactions normally involve gold being borrowed and sold in today’s market with producers later delivering their production against these commitments. Hedging was a major source of supply in the late 1980s and the 1990s, but more recently, positive sentiment toward prices has resulted in producers

cutting their hedge book commitments. This in essence adds to demand and this position of “dehedging” on a net basis has been in practice since 2000.