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Gold has traded between $1,293 and $1,303 so far today…as of 8:40 am Pacific, bullion is down $3 an ounce at $1,294…Silver is 20 cents lower at $19.39…Copper is flat at $3.13…Crude Oil is off 34 cents at $96.07 while the U.S. Dollar Index has jumped one-third of a point to 81.88…

China has allowed three more banks, including a foreign lender, to import Gold, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said according to a report from Reuters, as the world’s top Gold buyer gears up for its strongest effort yet to gain pricing power of the metal…the move, which brings the number of firms allowed to import Gold into China to 15, comes ahead of the launch next month of a new international bullion exchange in Shanghai with which China hopes to become a price-discovery center…

China and other Asian Gold trading centers such as Singapore are calling for more localized pricing of the precious metal as they seek alternatives to the so-called London fix, the global benchmark for spot Gold prices, which is being investigated by regulators on suspicion that it may have been manipulated…

Gold smuggling is thriving more than ever in India, thanks to the higher import duty that was imposed last year on the yellow metal…according to figures released by the government, $44 million worth of smuggled Gold was intercepted at the country’s airports between April and June this year…that compares with $82 million during the 12-month period ended March 31…the number of actual seizures has increased even more dramatically…

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin met Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for more than five hours of talks in Berlin yesterday, in hopes of reaching a ceasefire or a political solution to the 4-month old conflict in eastern Ukraine…meanwhile, Russia said a dispute over its humanitarian aid convoy to Ukraine had been resolved…Russia’s stock market advanced for the eighth straight day today on the apparent easing of tensions…concerns over the conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated last Friday after Ukraine’s military attacked and destroyed a number of armored vehicles that entered the country from Russia…the Putin regime, however, has demonstrated it cannot be trusted, so one should not dismiss the possibility of a direct military confrontation between Russia and Ukraine in the weeks ahead…Ukrainian forces reported new advances overnight, after a weekend breakthrough when troops raised the national flag in Luhansk, a city held by pro-Russian separatists since fighting began in April…

Today’s Equity Markets

Asia

China’s Shanghai Composite gained 6 points overnight to close at 2245, a level not seen since December of last year…Japan’s Nikkei average, meanwhile, rose to a two-week high as a weak yen, which traded near 102.6 against the U.S. dollar, buoyed risk appetite…

Europe

European markets were up significantly today…easing tensions in Ukraine, stellar earnings reports and the anticipation of more stimulus from the ECB boosted sentiment today…

North America

The Dow is up 59 points as of 8:40 am Pacific…U.S. consumer prices barely rose in July as declining energy costs partially offset increases in food and rents, which means the Federal Reserve should be in no hurry to raise its benchmark interest rate…the Labor Department said this morning that its Consumer Price Index edged up 0.1% last month after increasing 0.3% in June…in the 12 months through July, the CPI increased 2.0% after advancing 2.1% in June…labor market slack, marked by tepid wage growth, is keeping a lid on price pressures…meanwhile, U.S. housing starts and building permits rebounded strongly in July, suggesting the housing market recovery was back on track after stalling in the second half of last year…

It’s a big week for the Fed, with its Jackson Hole symposium at the end of the week, and minutes from the last Fed meeting to be released tomorrow…

The TSX has jumped 101 points as of 8:40 am Pacific while the Venture has added 3 points to 994…Pure Gold Mining Inc. (PGM, TSX-V), an exciting potential discovery opportunity with a 9,000 m drill program under way in the Red Lake district, is up another 3 cents to 56 cents following yesterday’s breakout above the 50-cent level…

Boxxer Gold Corp. (BXX, TSX-V) is one of the most active stocks on the Venture this morning, up another 1.5 cents at 4.5 cents on volume of more than 2 million shares as of 8:40 am Pacific…drilling is in progress at BXX’s DOK Property (Cu-Au-Mo-Ag) approximately 75 km south of the Sheslay district…one has to be very cautious with visuals, but BXX reported yesterday that it has intersected “visible occurrences of chalcopyrite mineralization from a core length of 22 m to 410 m (the end of the hole) with trace bornite reported to occur over a 23 m section of the core.”  The second hole, in progress, is testing the same target as the first hole and is expected to be drilled to a depth of 500 m…drilling is testing a large, strong and coincident multi-element geochemical anomaly, chargeability signature, and mineralized and altered volcanic Stuhini host rocks that underlie the target area…Continental Precious Minerals (CZQ, TSX), pursuant to an option agreement, has the right to earn up to a 75% interest in the DOK Property if certain conditions are met…CZQ is up 16 cents at 63 cents as of 8:40 am Pacific…

Tomorrow, we expect to post the next part of our interview with Garibaldi Resources Corp. (GGI, TSX-V) President Steve Regoci regarding GGI’s continued preparations for near-term first-ever drilling at the Grizzly, plus the company’s growing prospects at the high-grade Rodadero discovery in central Sonora State…

“Leverage isn’t just a word,” Regoci stated in a comment on his approach to developing projects and building shareholder value.  “It’s a function of how one operates, and how we think.”  There’s no question Regoci is effectively leveraging a clean share structure and three key situations – Rodadero, La Patilla and the Grizzly – to advance this company in a rapid, cost-effective fashion…

Balmoral Resources Ltd. (BAR, TSX) Update

Balmoral Resources (BAR, TSX) jumped a dime yesterday on its best volume (1.3 million shares) since June 27 following release of additional drilling assays from its Grasset Ni-Cu-PGE Project in Quebec…the results confirm the discovery and begin to outline the potential of a high-grade Ni-Cu-PGE sulphide zone within the Grasset ultramafic complex…multiple zones are certainly possible – that’s the tendency of these systems…drilling continues with wider step-outs…

Technically, RSI(14) has held above the 70% level since May on BAR’s 1-year weekly chart which demonstrates the persistent high level of interest in this play among investors…previous measured Fib. resistance is now new support…keep in mind, drilling also continues at BAR’s promising Martinere Gold project 40 km to the west…

While the overall exploration/resource market may seem rather lackluster, there’s a strong appetite among investors for companies who are active on the ground, delivering results and communicating their successes well – a “market” within a market, so to speak…unfortunately, too many CEO’s in this business don’t seem to understand that…

As of 8:40 am Pacific, BAR is off 2 cents at $1.90…

Teuton Resources Corp. (TUO, TSX-V) Update

Interesting news from Teuton Resources (TUO, TSX-V) this morning…recent prospecting has led to the discovery of an extensive zone of alteration and mineralization located 4  km south of Pretium Resource’s (PVG, TSX) Brucejack Property and on strike with the Valley of the Kings and Bridge Gold deposits, the former now the largest undeveloped high-grade Gold deposit in the world…

Teuton reports that “this new Gold-bearing area, called the Tuck zone, has just been recently exposed by ablation of an icefield that had previously obscured the mineralization. The zone is now exposed over a minimum 200-m width and for 300 m along strike before disappearing under snow and ice.”

Further sampling is continuing, and drilling is anticipated this season after definition of targets…TUO is up half a penny on the news to 5.5 cents as of 8:40 am Pacific…

Ascot Resources Ltd. (AOT, TSX-V) 

Another play to keep an eye on in the prolific Stewart area is Ascot Resources (AOT, TSX-V) which last week jumped 54% from 90 cents to a Friday close of $1.39…in mid-July, the company reported that it continues to encounter wide zones of Gold and Silver mineralization in all target areas of the Premier property which covers more than 100 sq. km near Stewart and includes the old Premier mine, a past producer of 2.1 million ounces of Gold and 44.9 million ounces of Silver…

After more than two years of compilation of extensive historical data, Ascot has commenced drilling at the old Premier mine site itself, which is located at the south end of the project area, approximately 6 km south of Big Missouri…this new target is a separate system outside of any of Ascot’s present resource areas (Big Missouri, Martha Ellen and Dilworth), and the priority is to define the potential for higher-grade underground mineralization…

After last week’s big run-up (on no news), Ascot may need to unwind temporarily overbought conditions…this bears watching, however, for a potential new discovery…AOT is up another 2 pennies to $1.47 as of 8:40 am Pacific…

Canada Zinc Metals Corp. (CZX, TSX-V) Update

As reported several weeks ago, Canada Zinc Metals (CZX, TSX-V) has completed an 8-hole drill program totalling nearly 3,000 meters at its Akie Silver-Lead-Zinc Project, which hosts the Cardiak Creek deposit, in B.C.’s highly prospective Kechika Trough…prior to this summer’s program, CZX had outlined a NI-43-101 indicated resource of 12.7 million tonnes grading 8.4% Zn, 1.7% Pb and 13.7 g/t Ag, and an inferred resource of 16.3 million tonnes grading 7.4% Zn, 1.3% Pb and 11.6 g/t Ag (at a 5% Zn cut-off grade for each category)…the company believes that targeted infill and step-out drilling this season has both increased the dimensions of the deposit and elevated the level of confidence in the resource…assays are pending…

Technically, CZX faces stiff resistance in the mid-50’s and has pulled back to the low-to-mid 40’s after a sudden 10-cent burst to 52 cents last Wednesday…encouragingly, the 50-day SMA (not shown on this chart) at 40 cents (where there is also Fib. support) appears to be reversing to the upside which may bode well for CZX heading into September…from 40 cents into the low 40’s seems like an attractive accumulation zone given the possibility of CZX firming up prior to the release of results…as always, perform your own due diligence…

CZX is off 1.5 cents at 43.5 cents as of 8:40 am Pacific…

Critical Elements Corp. (CRE, TSX-V) Update

Critical Elements (CRE, TSX-V) has confirmed a breakout above measured Fib. resistance at 30 cents which should now serve as new support…CRE hit a new 52-week high of 33 cents yesterday…last week, the company announced that its low iron lithium concentrate has been successfully tested by ceramic and glass manufacturers…samples sent to multiple end-users for testing in May all tested positively…Critical Elements will now proceed with plans to diversify its material output featuring at least three different products – tantalum concentrate, low-iron lithium concentrate, and battery-grade lithium carbonate…

Below is an updated 2.5-year weekly CRE chart from John…CRE is off 1.5 cents at 31.5 cents as of 8:40 am Pacific…

Note:  John and Jon both hold share positions in GGI.