''It's a fear of where else to put your money,'' Mr Hancock said. ''There's been a massive swamping of the equity markets with money over the last six months and that at some point has got to ease and gold is another alternative investment.'' Lihir Gold jumped 12 cents, or 3.4 per cent, to $3.70, Newcrest Mining rose $1.16 or 3.2 per cent to $37.00 and Newmont Mining firmed 3 cents to $5.75. Elsewhere, shares in building products supplier James Hardie surged 47 cents, or 6.4 per cent, to $7.87 after the company said full year earnings would come in at the top of expectations. Media stocks were mixed, with heavy turnover in Fairfax Media of over 10.6 million shares leaving the share price steady at $1.66. Rival News Corp lost 25 cents, or 1.6 per cent, to $15.49 while its non-voting scrip fell 15 cents, or 1.1 per cent to $13.17.