Gold traded 0.4% lower Tuesday, with a final bid of $1,665.90 per ounce, according to CME Group data. Gold prices reached a high of $1,670.90 and a low of $1,656. Gold bullion finished at $1,670 per ounce for Tuesday’s session in London.

“There’s a lot of talk of gold coming back as a safe-haven asset,”  Bernard Sin, head of currency and metal trading at Swiss refiner MKS, told BullionVault. “As long as the QE3 discussion is on the table, gold will continue to trade higher.”

Silver futures dipped 0.5% Tuesday, with a final bid of $30.88 per ounce. Tuesday’s high for silver reached $30.98, and the low was $30.49.

Gold and silver funds traded higher on Tuesday.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) finished 0.2% higher.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) also was 0.2% higher.
• The iShares Silver Trust iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) rose 0.6%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs suffered losses with the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) faring the worst.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) dipped 0.1%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF  fell 1.5%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) finished 0.2% lower.

Gold mining shares were mixed Tuesday.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was up 0.3%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) finished 0.7% higher.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) ticked up 0.2%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) dipped 0.1%.
• Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) was 0.6% lower.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) dropped 0.4%.
• NovaGold Resources (NYSE:NG) edged down 0.2%.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) finished 0.5% lower.

Silver mining shares also were mixed Tuesday.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) climbed 1.7%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) rose 0.6%.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) ticked up 0.2%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was 0.8% lower.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) stumbled 0.8%.

As of this writing, Angela Nazworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.