The price of December gold added $52.50 or 2.9% to trade at $1,870.30 an ounce in afternoon dealings on Thursday regaining much of the ground lost since hitting an intraday record of $1,923.10 an ounce on Tuesday. During August the metal added 12% as investors sought a safe haven from the slumping US economy and the continuing debt crisis in Europe. The ECB on Thursday decided to keep interest rates at 1.5% and cut forecasts for growth in the euro area while in the US jobless claims came in worse than expected. Bullion was also boosted by comments from the US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke who all but confirmed a new round of stimulus will be announced at a meeting later this month.

Goldcoast.com reports: A new apprenticeship scheme, developed by the National Apprenticeships Program with support of the government and the mining industry, will be fast-tracking as many as 1000 people on the Gold Coast, Australia, into mining and energy jobs.

The scheme is targeting those who have relevant skills but no formal qualifications, including people who have partly completed an apprenticeship, permanent Australian residents with overseas qualifications, ex-members of the defence force and trades assistants from the construction and engineering industries.

Extending the Neves-Coro mine in Portugal will add $100 million to the net present value (NPV) and push the life of the mine into 2026, Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN) said today. The company released the feasibility results for Lombador Phase 1, which plans to exploit the uppper portions of the Lombador zinc/copper ore bodies.

A day after reports that the Canadian federal police have joined the investigation into who may be behind an anonymous letter alleging fraud at Silvercorp Metals from an apparent short seller, shares in the company were racing ahead 10% in brisk noon trade on Thursday. Silvercorp was forced last week Friday to make public the letter and at the same time disclosed that someone had built up a short position of 23 million shares – more than 13% of the number outstanding. The firm with projects in China and Canada plunged 10% after the news broke, but is now up a net 8.7%, helped along the way by an influential investment site that in rather dramatic fashion asks whether Silvercorp is the "perfect stock."

Australians believe that the mining industry is much larger than it actually is, according to a study by the Australian Institute. In the study released on Thursday, Australians were asked to estimate what percentage of the nations workers are employed by the mining industry. The average response was around 16 per cent, when according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) the actual figure is 1.9 per cent. The survey also found Australians believe that mining accounts for more than one third (35%) of economic activity. However, ABS figures show that the mining industry accounts for around 9.2 per cent of GDP.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 8, 2011) - International Montoro Resources Inc. ("Montoro") (TSX VENTURE:IMT)(PINK SHEETS:IMTFF)(FRANKFURT:O4T) has retained Aeroquest International Limited to conduct multiple large scale geophysical and radiometric airborne surveys over the highly prospective "Tacheeda NW" and "Chuchinka NW" Rare Earth Element prospects located in 'The Rocky Mountain Rare Metal Belt' of northern British Columbia. Both of Montoro's newly acquired properties are on trend with properties held by Spectrum Mining Corp. (the "Wicheeda" discovery), who announced a 48.64 metre interval which averaged 3.55% REE, a 72.0 metre interval that averaged 2.92% REE, and a 144 metre interval which averaged 2.20% REE in three separate drill holes.

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN--(Marketwire - Sept. 8, 2011) - Great Western Minerals Group (TSX VENTURE:GWG) (OTCQX:GWMGF) ("GWMG") is pleased to announce the selection of Drillcorp Africa (Pty) Ltd. ("Drillcorp") as the drill contractor for the upcoming exploration and resource evaluation program at the Company's Steenkampskraal Rare Earth Element ("REE") project in South Africa.

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 8, 2011) - Rare Earth Metals Inc. ("Rare Earth Metals", "RA" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:RA)(PINK SHEETS:RAREF)(OTCQX:RAREF) is pleased to report preliminary Rare Earth Element results from three additional holes on the Two Tom Mineralized Zone at the Red Wine Property, located approximately 110 kilometers northeast of Churchill Falls in west central Labrador. The results include best intersections of 1.86% TREO over 121.5 meters within a larger zone of mineralization which assayed 1.46% TREO over 195.15 meters in drill hole DDH-TT-13, 1.82% TREO over 89 meters in drill hole DDH-TT-14, and 2.15% TREO over 120 meters within a larger zone of mineralization which assayed 1.68% TREO over 176.5 meters in drill hole DDH-TT-15b. The HREO/TREO ratios from these intersections range from 5.2% to 6.0%.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 8, 2011) - Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:BGM)(FRANKFURT:IWUB) (the "Company") announces that it has completed the purchase of the Antler Creek, Craze Creek and Roundtop Mountain Properties under the terms previously disclosed on August 23, 2011, August 24, 2011 and August 26, 2011 respectively (News Releases 11-24, 11-25 and 11-26).