Qatar Holdings has given European Goldfields a seven-year, $600 million U.S. loan. In addition, Qatar Holdings is buying a 9.9% stake in European Goldfields from Greek building firm Aktor Construction.

European Goldfields will also issue warrants to Qatar Holdings that give it the option to increase its stake to about 29%. If it exercises these warrants, European Goldfields would get an additional $366.8 million.

Aside from funding, these investments give the company a major partner with a stake in the development of its mines.

European Goldfields is still a buy.

The company has now enhanced this policy. If gold prices exceed $1,700 an ounce, it will raise the quarterly dividend by an additional $0.025 a share, for a total increase of $0.075 a share.

If gold prices rise above $2,000 an ounce, Newmont will raise the dividend by an additional $0.05 a share, for a total increase of $0.10 a share.

The company last paid a quarterly dividend of $0.30 a share on September 29, 2011. The implied annual rate of $1.20 yields 1.9%.

Gold stocks: Even with gold prices down, new policy offers opportunity for profit

Gold prices have moved down from their peak of $1,918 an ounce in August 2011 to today’s price of $1,626. Still, this gold stock’s new policy gives investors an opportunity to automatically profit when gold prices rise.

In the second quarter, the gold stock’s attributable net income from continuing operations rose 37% over the same period a year ago. At that time, the board of directors approved a gold price-linked dividend hike of 50%, to $0.30 a share.

We updated our advice on Newmont Mining in our September 30, 2011, Wall Street Stock Forecaster hotline, You can view it immediately when you take a 1-month free trial to Wall Street Stock Forecaster, our newsletter written especially for Canadians interested in U.S. stocks with a substantial margin of safety. Click here to get started right away.

(Note: If you are a current Wall Street Stock Forecaster subscriber, please click here to view Pat’s recommendation. Be sure to log in first.)

The company has now enhanced this policy. If gold prices exceed $1,700 an ounce, it will raise the quarterly dividend by an additional $0.025 a share, for a total increase of $0.075 a share.

If gold prices rise above $2,000 an ounce, Newmont will raise the dividend by an additional $0.05 a share, for a total increase of $0.10 a share.

The company last paid a quarterly dividend of $0.30 a share on September 29, 2011. The implied annual rate of $1.20 yields 1.9%.

Gold prices have moved down from their peak of $1,918 an ounce in August 2011 to today’s price of $1,626. Still, this new policy gives investors an opportunity to automatically profit when gold prices rise.

Newmont Mining is a buy.

In the three months ended June 30, 2011, Yamana’s revenue jumped 63.1%, to $573.3 million from $351.4 million a year earlier (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Cash flow per share rose 69.2%, to $0.44 from $0.26.

The company raised its production, and gold prices hit new record highs. During the quarter, Yamana produced 278,737 ounces of gold, up 10.1% from 253,264 ounces a year earlier. Its selling price for gold rose 25.6%.

Yamana holds a high cash balance of $520.9 million. Its $459.9 million of debt is just 3.8% of its market cap.

The company expects to produce 1.04 million to 1.14 million ounces of gold this year. By 2014, new production from its four development properties should increase that figure should to 1.7 million ounces.

Yamana Gold is still a buy.

IAMGOLD $21.49 (Toronto symbol IMG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (1-888-464-9999; www.iamgold.com; Shares outstanding: 376.5 million; Market cap: $8.2 billion; Dividend yield: 0.9%) sold its Mupane mine in Botswana for $34.2 million in September 2011 (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). Earlier this year, IAMGold sold its 18.9% stake in the Tarkwa and Damang gold mines in Ghana to South African mining giant Gold Fields Ltd. for $667 million in cash.

The sales leave IAMGold with 38% of the Sadiola mine and 40% of the Yatela mine, both located in Mali; 90% of its new Essakane gold mine in Burkina Faso, 100% of the Doyon mine in Quebec; and 100% of the Rosebel mine in Suriname, South America.

IAMGold also has a 1% royalty interest in the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories.

As well, the company also owns the Niobec niobium mine in Quebec. Niobium is a rare metal that when used as an additive makes steel stronger, more heat resistant and easier to weld.

In the three months ended June 30, 2011, IAMGold’s revenue rose 74.5%, to $345.7 million from $198.1 million. Gold production rose, partly because the Essakane mine started up in late 2010. Higher gold prices also increased revenue. Cash flow almost doubled, to $0.40 a share from $0.22 a share a year earlier.

The company now holds over $1.2 billion U.S. in cash and gold bullion. That gives it lots of options to spur its share price. For example, it could raise exploration spending, make an acquisition, pay dividends or buy back shares.

Earlier in 2011, the company teamed up with Chinese state-owned China National Gold Group Corporation to find and develop new deposits. The agreement is significant, because China National Gold is China’s biggest gold producer. The deal could also lead China National Gold to make a takeover offer for IAMGold.

IAMGold is still a buy.

We analyze IAMGold in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter that recommends stocks (including gold mining stocks) for the part of your portfolio you devote to aggressive investing.

IAMGold also owns the Niobec niobium mine in Quebec, and has a 1% royalty interest in the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories.

In the three months ended June 30, 2011, the gold mining stock’s revenue rose 74.5%, to $345.7 million from $198.1 million (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). The company’s production rose, partly because the Essakane mine started up in late 2010. Higher gold prices also pushed up revenue. The gold mining stock’s cash flow almost doubled, to $0.40 a share from $0.22 a share a year earlier.

Earlier in 2011, IAMGold sold its 18.9% stake in the Tarkwa and Damang gold mines in Ghana to South African mining giant Gold Fields Ltd. IAMGold received cash of $667 million U.S. for these interests.

The company now holds over $1.2 billion U.S. in cash and gold bullion.

We updated our advice on IAMGold in our August 26, 2011, Stock Pickers Digest hotline, which you can immediately view when you take a 1-month free trial to Stock Pickers Digest. Click here to learn how you can start profiting from Stock Pickers Digest right away.

(Note: If you are a current Stock Pickers Digest subscriber, please click here to view Pat’s recommendation. Be sure to log in first.)

This new service has attracted many gold buyers, due to record gold and silver prices and eBay’s strong reputation. (Note that we still feel the best way to profit from rising gold is through well-established gold stocks like Newmont). As well, eBay should continue to profit as the sluggish economy prompts more people to sell goods online to supplement their incomes.

eBay is a buy.

Today’s tip: “2 ways you could miss out on record gold investing profits”

On Monday, gold closed at a new record high of $1,898.10 U.S. an ounce. Prices have since pulled back to around $1,861.30 U.S., but that’s still up 52.3% from $1,222.00 U.S. a year ago.

We think gold could well move higher in the long term, although it will continue to be volatile. (You can get our latest outlook on gold prices, as well as 7 strategies for lower-risk gold investing, in our FREE report, Gold Investing: 7 Profitable Strategies for Investing in Canadian Gold Stocks.)

Gold’s recent gains have mainly resulted from investor concerns about high sovereign debt levels in the U.S. and Europe. Investors are also concerned about the weakening global economic recovery and recent stock market volatility.

These fears are prompting more investors to buy gold and gold investments, because they believe gold investing will provide them with additional security.

Get one of Pat McKeough’s top gold stock picks FREE. You'll learn all about this exciting company in Pat's special report, "Gold Investing: 7 Profitable Strategies for Investing in Canadian Gold Stocks." This established gold miner’s highly productive mines put it in a good position to post strong gains in the years ahead. Click here to download yours today.

Here are two profit-killing strategies you must avoid when gold investing:

1. Gold futures: Rising gold prices can make trading gold futures look more attractive. However, you can only profit in future-linked deals by out-guessing other futures traders by a wide enough margin to cover commissions and other trading costs. When you dabble in commodity futures, you are betting against professionals who make a full-time occupation of studying these markets, who have better access to information than you do, and pay much lower commissions.
   
   Most futures traders start out with a planned limit on how much they are willing to lose before they quit. In six months or so, most lose that amount, and quit trading. Because futures traders tend to trade often, a surprisingly large number find that the total brokerage commissions they pay during their trading career is close to the total losses on their commodity investments.
2. Structured investments: Brokers sell various structured products for investing in gold and other commodities, while supposedly limiting risk. Most participants will ultimately lose money in these investments, as well. Or they will make a poor return in relation to their risk.
   
   The difference between gold investing in structured products and futures trades is that the losses won’t happen so quickly. In addition, more of the money you lose will flow into brokers’ fees and commissions, while you’ll typically lose less on the commodity investments themselves.

You can learn all about our 7 most profitable strategies for lower risk gold investing—as well as more gold investing pitfalls that you must avoid—absolutely free when you download our special report, Gold Investing: 7 Profitable Strategies for Investing in Canadian Gold Stocks.

If you haven’t yet read this free report, click here to download your copy today. I’d also encourage you to share the report with a friend by forwarding this email to them. It’s my “thank you” just for signing up for my free daily updates.

El Morro contains an estimated 4.7 million ounces of gold and 3.7 billion pounds of copper. New Afton holds 2.5 billion pounds of copper, 2.7 million ounces of gold and 8.3 million ounces of silver.

In June 2010, New Gold bought Richfield Ventures (symbol RVC on Toronto) for $550 million in New Gold shares. Richfield owns the Blackwater gold property in central B.C., about 450 kilometres north of the New Afton project. Blackwater holds as much as 3.8 million ounces of gold. After it brings New Afton into production, New Gold aims to use the same mine-building personnel to construct a mine at Blackwater.

New Gold expects to produce 380,000 to 400,000 ounces of gold this year. The New Afton mine will add over 85,000 ounces of gold and 75 million pounds of copper a year after it starts up in mid-2012.

The company reported cash flow of $0.21 a share in the three months ended June 30, 2011. That’s up 90.9% from $0.11 a share a year earlier (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars).

New Gold’s $246.7 million of long-term debt is just 4.7% of its market cap. It holds cash of $490.4 million, or $1.25 a share. That gives it lots of funds for further development and acquisitions.

New Gold is a buy.

In the three months ended June 30, 2011, Newmont earned $1.06 a share before one-time items. That’s up 35.9% from $0.78 a share a year earlier (all figures in U.S. dollars). The gains came despite a 16% rise in the company’s overall cost of producing an ounce of gold, to $588 an ounce from $507. Newmont paid more for labour, fuel and raw materials in the quarter.

Revenue rose 11.0%, to $2.4 billion from $2.2 billion. The company continues to benefit from rising gold prices.

Newmont is now linking future dividend hikes to the price of gold: it will raise the quarterly rate by $0.05 a share for each $100 per ounce rise in its average selling price for gold in the preceding quarter.

The rise in gold prices in the latest quarter prompted the company to raise its quarterly dividend by 50%, to $0.30 a share from $0.20. The new annual rate of $1.20 yields 2.1%.

Newmont Mining is a buy.

The Olympias mine could start up later this year, followed by a new mine at Skouries in 2012. The two mines should boost the company’s gold output from 70,000 ounces per year to over 420,000 ounces. The new mines could also make it a takeover target.

European Goldfields is a buy.