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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

New York spot gold closed down $8 to $1,294.10 Friday, as the U.S. dollar continued to climb against the euro. In Canada, the TSX Venture Exchange lost a fraction of a point to 678.18 and the TSX Gold Index lost 5.20 points to 184.93.

Canadian gold miners ended the day down. Goldcorp Inc. (G) lost 31 cents to $29.72, Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) lost 44 cents to $15.43, Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM) lost $1.05 to $40.38 and Eldorado Gold Corp. (ELD) lost 76 cents to $7.04.

Stephen Lang and Ian Atkinson's Centerra Gold Inc. (CG) rose four cents to $6.68 on 1.54 million shares. Centerra's stock has been flattish this month, despite gold's rise. There is still much uncertainty surrounding the company's Kumtor gold mine in the Kyrgyz Republic. For the past four years, environmentalists have been trying to stop the mine, locals have been asking the government to expropriate it, and government officials have been vying for a bigger piece of production. In the unlikely event that all goes well this year, Centerra would expect Kumtor to produce 520,000 ounces of gold. The company will need its annual mine operating permit, potentially the first hurdle. The government withheld the permit last year, granting it only after Centerra threatened to stop work and shut the mine. The permit arrived hours before Centerra was scheduled to stop work. If the company does end up losing Kumtor, it would need to rely solely on its Boroo gold mine in Mongolia. Boroo produced 50,000 ounces of gold in 2014, but it has run out of ore. This year, the company aims for only 15,000 ounces at Boroo. It might, however, be able to increase Boroo's throughput shortly. Today, the government of Mongolia said Centerra's other Mongolian project, Gatsuurt, is a deposit of strategic importance. There are 1.6 million ounces of gold reserves at Gatsuurt, which Centerra could start trucking 34 kilometres to the Boroo mill. It just needs a couple of more permits, and must hand over a 34-per-cent interest to the government.

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