This year’s bumper gold-mining deals are putting a fat price on gold-in-the-ground…

WHATEVER’S LURKING in Andean Resource’s (ANDPF.PK) data room – opened to suitors for two years, but now closed after Goldcorp (GG) trumped Eldorado’s (EGO) US$3.3bn bid – it must be pretty spectacular.

Because on published figures, and at current spot prices, Goldcorp’s offer equals 74% of the gold and silver resources indicated and inferred at Cerro Negro. Based on viable reserves alone, the bid is priced at 1.5 times proven

Did you see the bids for Andean Resources (ANDPF.PK, TSX:AND) announced yesterday and today, almost within minutes of each other? First Eldorado Gold (EGO, TSX:ELD), which had been circling and watching its prey for over a year comes out with an announcement of a merger proposal valuing Andean at .2 billion. The offer was a whopping 62% premium to Andean’s closing price of $4.79 Cdn. Then in the early morning hours, Gold Corp (GG, TSX:G) announces a buyout of .4 Billion USD, that had the approval of Andean’s board. What is going on here?

August and the summer are now over and investors and savers are now focusing on the autumnal months ahead. Stocks internationally had their worst August performance since 2001 and the ISEQ fell 7.2% in the month. Mounting concerns about the health of the economic recovery in Ireland, the US and internationally saw investors move into government bonds and gold. Some respite came due to the falling price of oil – oil was down 8.9%, its first monthly decline since May.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the month 4.3% lower, while the S&P 500 was down 4.7%. The weak

by Brad Zigler

Real-time Monetary Inflation (last 12 months): -2.1%

This week, gold turned in another mixed performance against the world’s reserve currencies. In addition to its appreciation against the U.S. dollar, bullion gained 0.3 percent against the yen and 0.6 percent vs. sterling. Gold gave up 0.5 percent to the euro and 0.9 percent to the Swiss franc.

For the week ending Thursday, here’s how gold and other U.S. dollar indicators fared:

• London morning gold fixings averaged $1,240 and finished 0.6 percent higher at $1,248; Thursday’s COMEX spot settlement of $1,252 capped the week 1.3 percent higher after averaging $1,244; average