World’s Largest Gold Refiner Runs Out of Krugerrands (Update1) By Claudia Carpenter

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) — Rand Refinery Ltd., the world’s largest gold refinery, ran out of South African Krugerrands after an “unusually large” order from a buyer in Switzerland.

The order was for 5,000 ounces and it will take until Sept. 3 for inventories to be replenished, said Johan Botha, a spokesman for Rand Refinery in Germiston, east of Johannesburg. He declined to identify the buyer.

Coins and bars of precious metals are attracting investors as a haven against a sliding dollar and conflict between Russia and its neighbor Georgia. The U.S. Mint suspended sales of one- ounce “American Eagle” gold coins, Johnson Matthey Plc stopped taking orders for 100-ounce silver bars at its Salt Lake City refinery and Heraeus Holding GmbH has a delivery waiting list of as long as two weeks for orders of gold bars in Europe.

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By Jennifer Yousfi Managing Editor Gold prices tumbled below $800 per ounce for the first time since late 2007 Friday, as the continuing U.S. dollar rally sparked an across-the-board retreat in commodity prices. Gold closed Friday at $792 an ounce, a decline of $22.40, or 2.75%. Gold prices have plummeted 23% since the "yellow metal" hit an all-time record of $1,032 an ounce on St. Patrick’s Day. “The dollar’s continuing uptrend is a key factor depressing commodities in general and triggering heavy sales in gold,” Shuji Sugata, manager at Mitsubishi Corp. Futures and Securities Ltd. in Tokyo told Reuters. Investors who had been using precious-metals investments as a hedge against a weak greenback dumped their holdings, causing the dollar to gain more than 8% against the euro and more than 5% against the yen in the past month.  The greenback hit a ...