Gold and silver were up sharply Tuesday morning, as market participants digested news that European Union finance ministers had approved a Greek accord on new austerity measures.

Spot gold was up 1.2% Tuesday morning, having traded as high as $1,757.20 per ounce and as low as $1,740.80. The London morning fixed reference price came in at $1,737, $5 per ounce higher than Friday’s price fix, according to Kitco market data.

Demand for gold reached a record nominal high in 2011, according to the World Gold Council, though investment demand rose 5% year-over-year. Moreover, global demand for gold was “merely reaching its highest level in 15 years in terms of tonnage.”

Spot silver was showing a 1.4% gain, bid at $34.07 with an ask price of $34.17. The morning high as of time of writing was $34.22 and the low was $33.68. Monday’s reference price was set at $33.65 in the London a.m., 17 cents an ounce above Friday’s reference price fix.

At the end of their weekend negotiation sessions, EU finance ministers and Greek government leaders had managed to come up and approve a $173 billion package of austerity measures that is projected to reduce Greece’s government debt-to-GDP ratio to 120.5% by 2020, though the measures likely will leave Greece economically hobbled for at least a decade. The European Central Bank pitched in by agreeing to forgo and distribute profits on its Greek government bond holdings, while private sector bondholders agreed to an additional write-down of their holdings.

The Greek austerity package still needs to be approved by the Finland, German, and Netherlands parliaments.

Gold bullion jumped as high as $1,747 per ounce in London morning trading Tuesday, 1.3% above last week’s close, BullionVault reported in its daily London Gold Market report. The euro had given up its morning gains against the dollar by lunchtime.

“Market reaction (to the Greek deal) has been remarkably muted so far,” one London gold bullion dealer was quoted as commenting before U.S. markets opened.

Gold and silver trusts were showing strong gains in Tuesday morning trading.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was up around 1.9%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was showing gains of around 1.8%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was up more than 2.6%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs also were moving up sharply.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was around 3% higher.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was showing gains of some 3.85%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was up around 2.2%.

Gold mining shares were surging higher.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was showing gains of more than 2.4%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was up around 3%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was up more than 3.7%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was nearly 1% lower.
• Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) was up around 2.5%.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was up nearly 3%.
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) was up nearly 3%.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) was up some 4.9%.

Silver mining shares were surging higher as well, with Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) spiking higher on news that its board of directors had elected to declare a quarterly, silver-linked dividend of 1 cent per common share based on the average realized silver price of $31.61 per ounce in Q4 2011.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was moving sharply higher, up nearly 4%.
• Hecla Mining was up more than 8.7%.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was showing gains of more than 2.5%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was up around 2.9%.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was up some 3.3%.

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