11.   U.S. stocks eroded demand for gold by investors, who often buy the metal as a hedge against inflation, analysts said.

12.   Energy providers are urging businesses that buy non-ferrous metal from the population to check the origin of the cable they accept.

13.   Kirillov called on Gov. Vladimir Biryukov to ban metal dealers who buy scrap metal from the thieves.

14.   Metal dealers, who buy scrap metals from thieves, regularly dispatch convoys of trucks and even special river barges to collect scrap metal.

15.   The owner of the garage said that he bought the metal in Lithuania with the hope of reselling it for a profit, the BNS said.

16.   However, one London metals analyst said that there was no real interest on the market and that few investors were actually buying metal.

17.   Zinc prices were propelled to a more than four-and-half year high, as speculative investors rushed to buy the metal.