China became the world’s largest gold producer last year, helped by Canadian- and Australian-led projects that aim to add millions in ounces to the world gold supply.

China produced 276 metric tons of gold last year, equal to about 9.7 million ounces, said London precious metals consultancy GFMS Ltd. in a report released Thursday. That’s up 12% from the year-ago and represented just over one-tenth of the world’s supply.

The ranking pushes South Africa into second place, the first time the gold giant has lost its top ranking since 1905, GFMS said. South Africa, whose late 19th century gold rush led to the founding of mining heavyweights, saw its production decline 8% to 272 metric tons. Read Full Story

A Canadian oceanographer who discovered what may be the richest shipwreck treasure in history [The Black Swan] has agreed to pay US$216,355 in an insider-trading settlement with U.S. government regulators.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced a civil settlement Thursday with Ernesto Tapanes, an oceanographic consultant after accusing him of illegally profiting from his find.

In March, he discovered a wreck, code-named Black Swan, for Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. as he surveyed off the coast of Gibraltar. The company revealed the Atlantic Ocean discovery of 500,000 colonial-era silver coins, estimated to be worth up to $500 million May 18.

In a civil suit, the SEC alleged in the weeks before the announcement, Tapanes used his inside knowledge of the find when he bought buy 42,000 shares of company stock. Odyssey Marine shares soared nearly 81 per cent on May 18 to $8.32 apiece. Tapanes then sold the stock, reaping a profit of $107,102. Read Full Story

Diane Wolf, who died January 10, was a philanthropist based in Manhattan and Washington, D.C., who once made headlines for masterminding a plan to resign America’s currency.

Wolf died at 53 during a medical procedure at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, her family said.

While serving as a presidential appointee of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in the 1980s, Wolf became an advocate for redesigning the nation’s coinage. “The designs are nice, but they’re dull and outdated,” she told the Los Angeles Times at the time. Read Full Story