Gold, silver futures close mixed on Tuesday

International gold prices inched higher on Tuesday, while silver futures slipped.

As of the close of trading, gold futures for August delivery rose 0.06 percent to settle at 4,354.40 U.S. dollars per ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while silver futures for July delivery dropped 0.24 percent to close at 70.013 dollars per ounce.

The first 5,000-tonne-class intelligent eco-friendly vessel is set to begin trial navigation on Wednesday on the Pinglu Canal in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a landmark waterway that stands as the country's first digitalized smart canal linking rivers with the sea.

The vessel, named "Beigang Yunhe 002," is a dual-purpose carrier designed for both container and bulk cargo. Tailor-made to maximize single-lock throughput on the Pinglu Canal, it is equipped with intelligent features such as route planning, collision alert systems, and remote-sensing monitoring. A single canal lock can accommodate up to six such ships at a time.

The first batch of four such intelligent vessels has already been completed at a shipyard in Guigang City of Guangxi. Trial navigations will be rolled out successively for each unit, with final delivery slated for this August.

Stretching 134.2 kilometers from the Pingtang River in Guangxi's Hengzhou City to the Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea, the Pinglu Canal is the backbone of the country's New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a key initiative that enhances global trade connectivity for China's western inland regions.

The waterway is expected to open to full navigation this September. Once it becomes fully operational, the Pinglu Canal will facilitate the direct shipment of goods from Guangxi and the neighboring Yunnan and Guizhou provinces through the Xijiang river system to ports in the Beibu Gulf of Guangxi, rather than routing them through Guangdong in south China. This strategic shift is projected to significantly reduce the shipping distance by approximately 560 kilometers.