Gold rose back above $1,640 an ounce in Europe on Monday as it took advantage of a rising euro and a recovery in stock markets which took some downward pressure off prices.

The company said Monday it had been approached by the sale's advisor about participating in the $1.3 billion bid for French engineering company GTT but stated that talks were at a very early stage.

The metals lobby group is gearing up to meet with the European commission at the end of January to persuade it to grant the sector full exemption from the indirect carbon costs embedded in electricity prices.

According to an Ipsos Apoyo poll, President Ollanta Humala's Cabinet shuffle following fierce protests against Newmont Mining's Conga project lifted his approval rating as it rose to 54% in January.

The country hopes the new platform will help strengthen its pricing power and wrest control from Vale, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, which between them control three quarters of global seaborne ore supplies.

Brazilian iron ore producer Vale SA (VALE) will likely wait until the end of the Lunar New Year to sell a massive cargo of iron ore that was delivered into the Chinese port of Dalian via one of its “very large ore carriers” or VLOCs at the end of December, two traders said.

CTV reports the business-savvy Haisla First Nation presents a complex challenge to backers of the $5.5 billion Gateway pipeline project that would stretch for 1,170km to Kitimat in northern British Columbia while the Financial Post explains why Kitimat may have already received all the infrastructure investment it could absorb.

Gold jewellery demand in India, a major global market, is estimated to have risen 5 to 7 per cent in 2011 and is set to grow a further 10 to 15 per cent this year with bullion prices falling back after recent gains, the head of Gitanjali Gems, India's biggest jewellery retailer said on Sunday.

Novinite reported that on Saturday, miners at Bulgaria's state owned Maritsa Iztok Mines launched a symbolic protest, warning that effective strike was in store, after talks failed Friday.