Spot gold - which had risen over US$2,000 an ounce earlier this month for the first time - was worth US$1,935/oz this morning, with the sector buzzing about Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway investing in Barrick Gold.

Buffett has been quoted over the years being negative about investing in gold, including saying in a 1998 speech that gold was dug up, then buried and guarded and had no utility.

"Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head," he had said.

Berkshire's new stake in Barrick was reportedly valued about $563 million at the end of June.

Barrick had closed down on Friday but was up 8.11% after hours in New York.

Meanwhile the World Gold Council said last week gold-backed ETFs had recorded their eighth consecutive month of positive flows, adding 166 tonnes in July - equivalent to $9.7 billion of assets under management.

Jaguar Mining (TSX: JAG) jumped 9.59% on Friday in Toronto, having announced a quarterly dividend and a decision to go ahead with a share consolidation earlier in the week.

It had reported a 28% increase in consolidated gold production earlier this month and a 312% increase in gross profit.

Gold major Newmont had finished down 0.4% on Friday in New York.

Rio Tinto had closed down almost 1% in London.

The S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.8% in morning trade and BHP was down 0.4% at the time of writing.