The price of gold is back up past US$1,300 per ounce, the highest the precious metal has been since October last year.
The latest increase in the price of gold adds to last year's gain which saw the commodity rise 12 per cent over a 12 month period.
That represents the biggest yearly gain for the precious metal since 2011.
And the latest increase in the price of gold appears to be encouraging investors to snap up shares in ASX listed gold companies.
Dacian Gold Ltd (ASX: DCN) was one of the biggest movers among the gold companies, gaining more than 9 per cent on Tuesday.
Dacian, with a market cap of about $630 million, is a gold explorer and developer with operations in Western Australia.
The company previously announced that it expects production to commence this year at its Mt Morgans project.
Doray Minerals Limited (ASX: DRM), a gold developer with two operations in Western Australia, also saw its share price rise, gaining 7 per cent.
Doray Minerals reported a loss exceeding $74 million for financial year (FY) 2017.
But the company last month reported record production from its Deflector underground mine of almost 6,000 ounces in November, up by nearly 1,000 ounces produced from the mine in October.
The Kingsgate Consolidated Limited (ASX: KCN) share price gained 5 per cent on Tuesday.
The gold explorer and miner, with a market value of about $94 million, has operations in Asia, Australia and South America.
The Kingsgate share price has gained about 50 per cent in the past year as the company entered profit making territory.
In FY 2017 Kingsgate reported a profit of about $7.1 million, a significant improvement on the loss of about $230 million it reported for FY 2016.
Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM), with a market value of almost $18 billion, was also up, gaining 1.14 per cent.
Although the companies above enjoyed recent gains and have made positives starts to 2018, if you're interested in gold shares I would suggest taking a closer look at St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM).
