Gold is pushing higher today as it edges closer to a new all-time high…as of 8:40 am Pacific, the yellow metal is ahead $14 an ounce at $1,425…Silver has hit a new 31-year high and is currently ahead 41 cents to $34.39 while the U.S. Dollar Index is unchanged at 76.85…figures released today show inflation in the Eurozone in February rose to its highest level (2.4%) since October, 2008…meanwhile, new statistics show that costs for Chinese and Indian factories jumped in February…robust economic growth continues in those two emerging markets but inflationary pressures are not abating, despite higher interest rates, with factories blaming rising raw material and fuel prices which are being passed on to customers…India’s economy expanded at a brisk rate of 8.2% in the fourth quarter but tens of thousands of people protested in the Indian capital last Wednesday against surging prices (India suffers from the highest inflation of any major Asian economy), adding to pressure on the embattled government…these worldwide inflationary fires provide a positive backdrop for Gold while the continuing unrest in the Middle East is also bullish for the yellow metal…Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, testifying before the Senate Banking Committee today, said downside risks to growth in the U.S. have “diminished”…while saying for the first time that the risk of deflation was now “negligible”, Bernanke also stated that the Fed expects inflation to remain low and that long-term inflation expectations appear contained, both according to market indicators and surveys of consumers…”The most likely outcome is that the recent rise in commodity prices will lead to, at most, a temporary and relatively modest increase in U.S. consumer price inflation,” Bernanke said…he gave no hint he was considering cutting short the Fed’s stimulus program (QE2)…the CDNX jumped as high as 2409 in early trading today but has since pulled back slightly to 2399, a gain of 7 points from yesterday…Manitou Gold (MTU, TSX-V), a company we first wrote about last spring though the stock had little liquidity at the time, enjoyed a spectacular day yesterday and is up again today…Manitou delivered an incredible assay result (1,566 ounces per tonne over a 0.55 metre core length) from an ongoing drill program at its Kenwest Property in the Gold Rock mining camp of northwestern Ontario…MTU hit a high of $1.13 this morning and is currently trading at $1.01, a gain of 22 cents…the stock rocketed 45 cents higher yesterday to close at 79 cents…we suggest investors check out the impressive core on Manitou’s home page…the Gold Rock Mining Camp has been very much under-explored, so Manitou’s aggressive exploration approach since becoming a publicly traded company last spring may eventually pay off in a big way…yesterday’s news has finally given the stock some much needed liquidity…Gold Bullion Development (GBB, TSX-V) came out with more details this morning on its drill program at the Castle Silver Mine near Gowganda, Ontario…this is a property with interesting potential for Silver, nickel and cobalt but the market’s focus remains squarely on Granada…GBB is off 3 pennies at 54 cents…Abcourt Mines (ABI, TSX-V) is unchanged at 19.5 cents…the company announced yesterday the acquisition of some claims from Xstrata covering the Vendome Property which is approximately 13 kilometres south of the Abcourt-Barvue Silver-Zinc deposit near Val d’Or…President and CEO Renaud Hinse told us this morning he has been talking with Noranda/Falconbridge/Xstrata for 15 years to get this piece of land and he’s very pleased he has now secured it…Vendome, which has an historical non-compliant resource, has plenty of exploration upside and the economics of the Abcourt-Barvue Project would improve even more if production from Vendome could be added in…Cadillac Mining (CQX, TSX-V) is up half a penny at 31 cents…we’ll have much more on CQX as the week progresses as well as Visible Gold (VGD, TSX-V) which has announced a 9,000 metre drill program over CQX ground west of Rouyn-Noranda…Visible Gold is emerging as one of the most aggressive exploration companies on the Cadillac Trend and its senior geologist, Robert Sansfacon, who spent 12 years as project manager for Lac Minerals, played an important role in the discovery of Osisko’s Canadian Malartic Deposit…VGD is unchanged at 40 cents…the company is armed with approximately $8 million in cash and is also currently drilling its Silidor Property which is a former producer…we suggest investors do their due diligence on VGD as it is definitely an up-and-comer in the hunt for Gold in northwestern Quebec…Great Panther Silver (GPR, TSX), one of our favorite Silver stocks, roared to a new 52-week high of $4.53 this morning…it fell as low as $1.79 in late January during the weakness in precious metals which shows how important it is to buy when everyone else is panicking and selling…
