Platinum hits 6-week high on Lonmin strike; gold firm

* Gold-platinum spread narrows as platinum prices rally
* Spot platinum hits $1,477.50/oz, highest since July 5
* Platinum group metals demand outlook still sluggish
* Gold treads water, awaiting c.bank policy signal

SINGAPORE - Platinum rose to its highestin more than six weeks on Monday as supply worries lingeredafter violence at a major mine in South Africa, the world's topplatinum producing country, while gold firmed a touch.
Forty-four people have been killed over the past week in theconflict at the Marikana mine run by Lonmin, the world'sNo.3 platinum producer. Striking workers could be dismissed ifthey do not return to work on Monday.
Spot platinum hit $1,477.50 an ounce, its highestsince early July, before easing to $1,475.01 an ounce by 0651GMT, after rallying more than 5 percent last week, fuelled byworries that the violence would disrupt supply from SouthAfrica.
The gold-platinum premium dropped to below $150 an ounce,its lowest since early July, after hitting a record above $230just last week as grim economic prospects weighed on platinumwhile gold was supported by hopes for more monetary stimulusfrom central banks around the world.
"If things in South Africa calm down, we may see thegold-platinum spread widen again, because the demand forplatinum group metals is not good," said Peter Fung, head ofdealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong.
As the gold-platinum spread has shrunk to a multi-week low,some investors may start to reverse their recent tradingstrategy of buying platinum and selling gold, he added.

GOLD AWAITS POLICY CLARITY
Spot gold gained 0.2 percent to $1,619.26 an ounce.The U.S. gold futures contract for December delivery wasup 0.1 percent at $1,621.70.
Gold investors are still waiting for clear signals fromcentral banks on what they plan to do to shore up their fragileeconomies.
U.S. consumer sentiment improved in early August to thehighest in three months, adding to the argument that the U.S.Federal Reserve may not need to launch another round of bondpurchases any time soon as the economy has shown signs ofstabilisation.
Hedge funds and money managers cut their net long positionin U.S. gold futures and options for a second consecutive week,as investors reduced their bullish bets because of doubts overmore monetary stimulus by the Fed.
But holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, the world'slargest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.9 percent to1,274.739 tonnes by Aug. 17, the highest since July 9.