December gold traded at $4,124.10 an ounce, up 1.21%. Central banks added a net 321 tonnes to their reserves in the third quarter, the World Gold Council said, a 42% increase from a year earlier.

The B.C. Supreme Court has overturned the province’s “substantial start” determination for Seabridge Gold’s Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) mine, putting the large, high-grade project on hold after 15 years of work and $1.2 billion in early construction. The project had secured provincial environmental approval and a place on the province’s “fasttrack” list, and was expected to produce more than 500,000 ounces of gold per year. The court’s decision turned on flaws it identified in consultations with an Indigenous group of 58 members that is not recognized under federal law. The ruling directly disrupts expectations for predictable additions to global gold supply.