The mine in Maizhokunggar county, which produces copper, as well as some silver and gold, is operated by a subsidiary of state-owned China National Gold Group, China's biggest gold producer.
Meanwhile, The Netherlands defeated China 2-0 to win the gold in women's field hockey .
The rebound was sparked by a flood of gold-bullion and jewelry purchases in India and China, the world's two largest gold consumers.
China also is home to a booming gold-mining industry that keeps it as the world's largest gold producer.
And what of China, the other emerging-market driver of gold demand?
Twenty minutes after Yang won China's maiden gold medal, 16-year-old Ye Shiwen triumphed in the women's 400m medley, as well as breaking the world record set in Beijing four years ago.
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The story reports that China has increased its purchases of gold five-fold in the first 10 months of this year and that they sucked in 210 metric tons of the shiny yellow metal.
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These would be shipped not to Europe but mostly to Japan--blocked by Beijing from direct trade with China--where they would be exchanged for the silver that was worth as much as gold to the Chinese.
Data cited Thursday by China's state-run Xinhua news agency showed that China imported 209.7 metric tons of gold in the first 10 months of the year, a fivefold increase compared with the same period last year.
Major gold consumers China and India saw their citizens snapping up gold jewelry and bars as prices reached two-year lows.
On the gold medal side, China is expected to just edge out the U.S. - 37 medals to 36 gold medals for the U.S., but that's really close enough to be called a tie.
Mr. Strauss also expects emerging-market countries such as China to buy more gold for their reserves, further boosting demand.
China, which finished second in the overall gold-medal count, came in third with 50, and narrowly beat Russia's 48.
In fact, worries about inflation are one of the factors driving gold-jewelry demand in India and China, he explained.
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Hong Kong-listed Zijin Mining Group, China's biggest gold miner, fell 3 percent.
In March, music giants Universal, Warner and Sony, along with China's Gold Typhoon Entertainment, settled a hard-fought music-piracy law suit with Chinese Internet company Sohu that will see the record companies receive royalties and licensing fees.
China claimed their 13th gold medal, six ahead of second-placed United States, when Zhong Man claimed victory in the men's saber fencing , defeating Nicolas Lopez of France 15-9 in the final.
With such gold-plated backing, the Americans assumed that China's government-owned national and regional airlines would buy their planes.
China should consider its leadership as the No. 1 gold market a short-term position, though.
His injury leaves his main rival, two-time world champion Yang Wei of China, as hot favourite to win gold.
Sun Yang also added to China's growing gold tally with a win in the men's 1500-meter freestyle.
Earlier Wednesday, Marlen Esparza earned a bronze medal in the 51-kilo flyweight category but narrowly failed to reach the gold-medal fight after a 10-8 semifinal loss to China's Ren Cancan, the world No. 1 and top seed.
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Gold went to Guo Jingjing of China with 645.54, with team-mate Wu Min Xia taking silver in 619.05.
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In men's floor competition, China's Zou Kai edged out Japanese rival and Olympic all-around champion Kohei Uchimura for gold.
Top seeds Chen Qi and Ma Lin of China beat Ko Lai-chak and Li Ching of Hong Kong 11-6 11-9 7-11 11-8 8-11 11-5 to take the men's doubles gold in table tennis and keep China on track for another Olympic title sweep in Athens.
Mr. Li, winner of three gold medals for China in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, caught viewers' eyes world-wide when he carried the torch and "flew" around the Beijing stadium at the opening of the 2008 games.
He pointed out that China is interested in buying gold at discounted prices, which could be underpinning the market in the short-term.
Com (NYSE:SINA), gold-shaped mooncake discs are available at a shop in Shenyang, Liaoning province of Northeast China.
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