Gold can't hold 2,000, Ero Copper and Vale make a deal

Gold is deferring a break higher, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.On Saturday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with correspondent Paul Harris.Key economic news this week was the jobs report. Non-farm payrolls number come in at up 150,000 versus market expectations of 170,000. The report fell into the camp of the U.S. monetary policy doves, who want the Federal Reserve to stop raising interest rates.Gold was helped but not much. Spot gold finished the week at $1,998 ounce.Gold’s inability to convincingly break above $2,000 an ounce is creating some cautious sentiment in the marketplace, with some analysts saying that prices might need to consolidate in the near term before the precious metal takes a run at its all-time highs, wrote Kitco editor Neils Christensen.In mining news Harris noted that Ero Copper agreed with Vale to enter into an earn-in agreement for a 60% interest in the Furnas copper project.