NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Gold prices fell on Wednesday, unwinding the previous day’s advance to a two-week peak, after data showing weaker-than-expected U.S. manufactured goods orders and cautious comments from an ECB official spurred a flurry of selling.

Bullion lost ground with base metals, crude oil, equities and the euro after the report showing a moderate, though disappointing, gain in February U.S. durable goods orders ignited selling.

By Carole Vaporean

(Reuters) – - Barrick Gold (ABX.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) expects copper prices to remain “healthy,” as the mining industry works to meet demand for the industrial metal.

“We think the structural factors in place with demand from China and India and other emerging markets will continue to be a very strong factor for years to come,” Aaron Regent, president and chief executive officer of Toronto-based Barrick Gold told the Reuters Mining Summit on Monday.

By Carole Vaporean

(Reuters) – Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd (AEM.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) expects gold can reach $2,000 an ounce this year, propped up by investment demand for the precious metal amid a still weak global economy.

“Can it get to $2,000? Absolutely. Can it do that within the next year? Absolutely,” said Sean Boyd, chief executive officer at the Canadian gold miner, in an interview at the Reuters Mining Summit on Monday.

By Carole Vaporean

(Reuters) – Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd (AEM.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) expects gold can reach $2,000 an ounce this year, propped up by investment demand for the precious metal amid a still weak global economy.

“Can it get to $2,000? Absolutely. Can it do that within the next year? Absolutely,” said Sean Boyd, chief executive officer at the Canadian gold miner, in an interview at the Reuters Mining Summit on Monday.

NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) – Century Aluminum Co
said on Friday it has resumed talks for a power deal
with Appalachian Power, a unit of American Electric Power Co.
Inc., to supply its Ravenswood, West Virginia aluminum
smelter as it moves closer to restarting the idled plant.

The 170,000-tonne-a-year aluminum plant was shut in 2009 due
to low demand for the metal and falling aluminum prices.

NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) – A warning this week
from BHP Billiton that iron ore demand from
China is flattening spooked metal markets, raising fears the
world’s largest consumer of basic raw materials could be heading
for a downturn after years of stellar growth.

That fear, plus rising costs and volatile markets, will top
the agenda at the Reuters Global Metals and Mining summit next
week when executives from some of the world’s largest miners and
metal producers, including Rio Tinto Mining Ltd, Vale
SA, Posco, Norilsk Nickel UL> and
RUSAL will join Reuters in London, New York, Moscow,
Seoul, Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere to discuss the state of the
industry.

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Gold fell on Tuesday, on track to snap a three-day winning streak, amid selling prompted by lower crude oil and U.S. equity markets and a spate of positive U.S. economic data that eroded hopes of more U.S. monetary easing.

Spot gold narrowed its losses by 1:18 p.m. EDT/5:18 p.m. GMT to $1,652.21 an ounce from $1,660.40 late Monday, having slid by nearly 3 percent so far this month.

NEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) – A deal struck by Century
Aluminum Co and the United Steelworkers union to
restore healthcare benefits for retirees of the U.S. aluminum
producer’s Ravenswood, West Virginia smelter could lead to its
restart, the union said.

The healthcare agreement announced late Wednesday will help
to improve relations between management and the unions.
Relations have been strained since the smelter was shuttered two
years ago due to low demand and falling aluminum prices.

LONDON (Reuters) – Spot gold finished slightly lower on Thursday as investors locked in profits after bullion jumped past key resistance in early trade.

Spot gold jumped 1.11 percent to $1,729.76 an ounce, its highest level since December 8, and far surpassed both its 100- and 200-day moving averages in the morning.

LONDON (Reuters) – Gold rose more than 1 percent to a 6-1/2-week high on Thursday as stock markets, commodities and the euro all rallied after the U.S. Federal Reserve extended by 18 months its plan to keep interest rates historically low and hinted at further economic stimulus.

The day after the Fed’s announcement, spot gold jumped to its biggest one-day rise in three months, then pulled back from session highs