Gold's rout may be far from over, with many analysts and traders surveyed by Reuters predicting prices could fall to $1,000 per ounce by the end of the year, the first time at that level since 2009.

Mick Davis, the former boss of miner Xstrata, has made an offer for Anglo American assets including copper mines in Chile, Brazilian nickel mines and some coal operations, the Sunday Times reported without citing sources.

Kinross Gold Corp has agreed to sell its halted Fruta del Norte gold project in Ecuador to a company belonging to the Swedish-Canadian Lundin family for $240 million, Kinross and the company, Fortress Minerals Corp. said.

Gold fell on Thursday as stronger-than-expected economic data and upbeat corporate results lifted stocks in Europe and the United States.

The volume of gold sold forward by mining companies jumped 61% in the second quarter after Russia's Polyus Gold added a major new hedge position, an industry report showed on Wednesday.

The shine may soon come off Chile's decade-long copper boom as technical and regulatory problems in getting new mines into production highlight just how hard it will be to keep ratcheting up the supply.

Under the bill, such minerals "will be sold for production costs excluding transportation. That is the mine-gate price.

Gold was unchanged on Wednesday as growing concerns over the global economy prompted safe-haven bids, while the return of top consumer China from a week-long holiday also lifted prices.

Copper slipped on Thursday, with prices vulnerable to further pressure from the dollar's recent strength as investors awaited fresh data for further clues on the health of the U.S. economy and the outlook for interest rates

Amara Mining will invest $400 million over the next two years to build one of Africa's largest gold mines at its Yaoure property in Ivory Coast with production due to start in 2017.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc temporarily suspended open-pit mining at its Indonesian mine on Saturday, a company statement said, after four people died in an accident at one of the world's biggest copper mines.

Miner Anglo American said on Wednesday it won environmental regulatory approval to operate the slurry pipe at its Brazilian iron-ore project Minas Rio, a crucial step in meeting a deadline to enter production by the end of the year.