Gold started the summer doldrums looking strong and has retreated since, but what are its prospects for the rest of the year and beyond? That will largely be determined by the interplay between supply and demand; let’s take a look at the supply side.

Reports of dwindling supply are accurate in some areas; however, the story is not that simple. Unlike most metals that are consumed in industrial use, most of the gold ever mined is still around. Gold is forever. Thus newly mined, refined, and fabricated gold is not all that’s entering the marketplace; there are multiple ways of meeting demand. Here’s a look at each.

Breaking Rocks

Imagine that you could turn back the calendar to late 1848, as word was beginning to spread about the gold discovery at John Sutter’s sawmill on the South Fork of the American River in Coloma, California. Would you have loved gold enough to be

The Canadian Markets continued to fall ever so modestly during Tuesday’s session as the price of bullion dropped below the $900 per ounce mark. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange fell 0.50%, while the TSX Gold Index lost 2.4% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gave back 0.98% with the decliners beating out the advancers by a 416 to 336 margin on volume of 126 million shares traded.

UTS Energy shareholders have rejected the C$1.75 cash per share offer tabled by Total E&P Canada. As a result, Total has terminated the offer. UTS ended the session down C$0.06 at C$1.52.

Petro-Canada (NYSE:PCZ), which is in the midst of merger with Suncor (NYSE:SU), reported a first quarter loss of $47 million or $0.10 per share. Petro-Canada ended the day up C$0.07 at C$37.65.

NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) tabled a feasibility study for its 50

The Canadian Markets started off the trading week in fine form with investors cheering both the bailout of Citibank(NYSE:C) and President Elect Obama’s economic vision in the United States. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 3.50%, while the TSX Gold Index climbed another 1.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gained 2.64% with the advancing issuers outpacing the decliners by a 421 to 357 margin on volume of 166 million shares traded.

The Hudbay takeover saga just got a tad more interesting after Jaguar Financial announced that it would offer Hudbay shareholders the cash value of Hudbay, less a 1% fee estimated at C$5.40 per share, plus the cash from the remaining assets of Hudbay under a sale. HudBay Minerals and Lundin Mining (NYSE:LMC) have inked a friendly deal that would have Lundin shareholders getting 0.3919 of a Hudbay share