Beiträge von GSP-Komet

Last Update: 4:41 AM ET Jun 6, 2007

JOHANNESBURG, Jun 06, 2007 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) -- Edited Press Release
Gold Fields Ltd.'s (GFI) total attributable precious metal mineral resources, inclusive of its ore reserves, increased by 40% in 2006 to 251.7 million ounces, the South African gold producer said Wednesday.
Total attributable ore reserves increased by 44% to 93.8 million ounces.
Both numbers are net of 12 months' depletion and include the acquisition of the South Deep gold mine in South Africa.
"We are pleased to be able to announce such a strong resource and reserve statement that significantly increases our overall position, not only replacing the reserves that we have mined but also helping to grow Gold Fields and underpin our strategic focus on securing the future," Chief Executive Ian Cockerill said.
Mineral resources were calculated using a gold price of 135,000 rand a kilogram in South Africa; A$875 and ounce in Australia; and $650 an ounce in Ghana, Venezuela and Peru. Ore Reserves were calculated using a gold price of ZAR100,000 a kilogram in South Africa; A$650/oz in Australia; and $500/oz in Ghana, Venezuela and Peru, as per SEC guidelines.

LONDON, Jun 06, 2007 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) -- Edited Press Release
Gold Fields Limited Wednesday published its Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve Statement for the 12 month period to Dec. 31, 2006.
The company said total attributable precious metal Mineral Resources, inclusive of Ore Reserves, increased by 40% to 251.7 million ounces and total attributable Ore Reserves increased by 44% to 93.8 million ounces. Both numbers are net of 12 months' depletion and include the acquisition of South Deep gold mine.
Ian Cockerill, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields said: "Guided by our commitment to Corporate Governance, the consistency in reporting among our operating mines and compliance with public and internal regulatory codes of practice are paramount.
"The Mineral Resource Management processes utilised by the Group continue to improve through enhanced competent persons reporting. Gold Fields' Resource and Reserve Statement has been audited by a leading independent global mining consultancy and is SAMREC compliant and aligned to the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act."

Edited Press Release
JOHANNESBURG (MarketWatch) -- A miner was fatally wounded overnight at Anglo Platinum Ltd.'s (AMS.JO) Rustenburg in South Africa, the same mine where three miners this week died in a mud-rush, South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers said Friday.
The trade union said it is concerned by the increasing number of fatalities in the mining industry.
One miner remains missing after three were recovered at Gold Fields Ltd.'s (GFI: gold fields ltd new sponsored adr) Driefontein mine near Carletonville, South Africa.
"The miner has been trapped for more than eleven hours now and hope to find him alive is gradually dissipating," NUM said.
"It is a sorry state of affairs that miners do dangerous work and get paid peanuts while in actual fact dangerous work like mining should be well remunerated" said NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni. "We will therefore not compromise on anything in terms of our negotiations this year as miners cannot continue to risk their lives for a pittance."
NUM said it strongly condemns employers' actions in not following proper safety procedures in pursuit of beating production targets.
It added that it condemns the lack of training and failure to follow safety procedures at Anglo Platinum, and called on the state to intervene.

Edited Press Release
JOHANNESBURG (MarketWatch) -- South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers has released its demands for the country's Chamber of Mines, calling for a 15% wage increase for members, the union said Monday.
In terms of allowances from employers falling within the scope of the chamber, the union said it demands ZAR1,500 as a living out allowance for gold workers and ZAR2,850 for coal workers. It further demands that all shift allowance be increased by 3%.
"We strongly believe that the demands are very reasonable and that the employers will soon come to the party without hassles," NUM said.

Robb M. Stewart
JOHANNESBURG (MarketWatch) -- Gold and coal producers in South Africa have been called on to raise wages for unionized workers by at least 15% as collective bargaining looks set to begin.
The National Union of Mineworkers said it sent its demands Friday to the Chamber of Mines, which every two years leads negotiations on behalf of members, including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU: anglogold ashanti ltd) , Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI: gold fields ltd new sponsored adr) and Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY: harmony gold mng ltd sponsored adr) . The union has called for the same 15% wage increase from both the gold and coal industries.
The union, in an e-mailed statement, said it also is calling for an allowance of 1,500 rand ($211) a month for gold workers and ZAR2,850 a month for coal workers who don't use company-provided accommodation, as well as a 3% increase in workers' shift allowance.
"We strongly believe that the demands are very reasonable and that the employers will soon come to the party without hassles," said NUM, South Africa's largest union.
Elize Strydom, negotiator for the chamber, said NUM has made 36 separate demands that must be presented to members. Strydom added the chamber will now look for a mandate for bargaining, and so she doesn't expect negotiations with NUM and other unions to begin for another two weeks.
"They are going to be tough talks, there's no doubt about that," Strydom told Dow Jones Newswires. "Things are going to be fairly drawn out."
Trade union Solidarity last month submitted its demands to the chamber, calling for a 20% wage increase for members at the country's gold producers.
Gold production in South Africa amounted to 62,806.7 kilograms in the first quarter of the year, down 7.6% on the same three months the year before, the Chamber of Mines said in late May. It added cash production costs were almost 20% higher and total operating costs before capital expenditure up nearly 18%.
South Africa, the world's largest producer of gold, in 2005 faced its first industry-wide strike in 18 years when miners downed tools for five days. Workers then accepted a 6% to 7% pay increase for the lowest job categories and an increase of 5.5% to 6% in the second year of the agreement, which is set to expire at the end of June.
NUM, which represents the bulk of miners in the country, and Solidarity are also calling for a 15% wage rise at leading platinum producers Anglo Platinum Ltd. (AMS.JO) and Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMPUY: impala platinum hldgs) , which bargain independently.
Anglo Platinum, which is negotiating with six unions representing about 42,000 workers, last week raised its offer to a 6% pay hike from 5% but dropped an offer of a one-time 30% bonus on the basic monthly salary.

Gold Fever: Executives From Two Mining Companies Update the Investor Community On Their Progress Toward Production in Venezuela and Elsewhere

NEW YORK, Jun 5, 2007 (PrimeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Wall Street Reporter Magazine just published exclusive interviews with executives from Gold Reserve Inc. (GRZ: gold resv inc cl a) and ValGold Resources Ltd. (CA:VAL) detailing their projects in Venezuela and nearby Guyana.
Both interviews are now available at http://wallstreetreporter.com in streaming audio, MP3, and text format -- all free of charge.
Douglas Belanger, President of Spokane, Wash.-based Gold Reserve (GRZ:
gold resv inc cl a) , says that while Venezuela may be best known for oil, conditions in the country are also extremely favorable for mining. "In my 35 years in the mining business, I've never seen an area with better infrastructure than Venezuela," he tells Wall Street Reporter senior analyst Todd Santorelli.
Areas of special focus in the exclusive interview include:
-- Gold Reserve's Brisas project in Venezuela's highly prospective "Kilometer 88" greenstone belt. "Brisas will be the largest gold producer in Venezuela with 456,000 ounces of gold and 60 million tons of copper," he says. "This is going to be one big open pit."
-- The truly remarkable level of existing infrastructure on and around the site, including water, a state-of-the-art power station, and paved road leading all the way to ocean portage. "We have zero infrastructure costs over and above the cost of building the mine, so it's really quite spectacular in that regard."
-- A follow-up grassroots property in the hot El Callao mining district. "We're just starting to drill."
"We'll be a good-sized to intermediate producer," by 2010, Mr. Belanger tells Wall Street Reporter. "And a very profitable one -- based on today's copper price, we actually have negative operating costs."

LAS VEGAS, June 8, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- (HMSO: hemis corp com) Hemis Corporation is an international resource company with three exploration properties in Mexico and one in Alaska. Hemis' Santa Rita property in Mexico has an earn-in agreement with Goldcorp Inc. (CA:G:) through Goldcorp's Mexican subsidiary Glamis Exploration.

LAS VEGAS, June 5, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Hemis Corporation (Hemis) (HMSO: hemis corp com) is an international resource company with three advanced stage exploration properties in Mexico and one in Alaska. Hemis' Santa Rita property in Mexico has an Earn-In Agreement with Goldcorp Inc. (CA:G:) (GG: goldcorp inc new com) through its Mexican subsidiary Glamis Exploration.

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Until lately, he recommended Goldcorp (GG), Agnico-Eagle (AEM), Yamana Gold (AUY), Silver Wheaton (SLW ), Golden Star Resources (GSS) and Newmont Mining (NEM) as core holdings, but now he believes they need to go.

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JPMorgan raised its ratings on shares of gold producers Goldcorp (GG) and Compania de Minas Buenaventura (BVN), both to overweight from neutral.

JOHANNESBURG (MarketWatch) -- DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY: drdgold ltd sponsored adr) and Mintails Ltd. (MLI.AU) Thursday unveiled a joint venture to extract gold from newly acquired mine waste on the East Rand of South Africa's Witwatersrand Basin.
The new deal follows an agreement signed in late April to form a separate joint venture between the South African units of the two companies to explore and potentially mine gold and uranium on the West Rand.
South Africa's DRDGold, the country's fourth-largest producer of gold, in a statement said it and Mintails would consolidate certain of their assets on the East Rand in an equally-owned venture.
The venture would be managed by DRD's Crown Gold Recoveries subsidiary, which has treated more than 200 million metric tons of sand and slime and produced roughly 2.8 million troy ounces of gold through its plants.
As well, the venture has acquired from AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU: anglogold ashanti ltd sponsored adr) , Africa's largest producer of gold, significant gold-bearing tailings materials created from historic gold production as well as infrastructure and a surface reclamation operation on the East Rand gold fields that was discontinued by AngloGold in 2004.
The AngloGold surface operation, ERGO, has processed more than 890 million tons of tailings material on the East Rand and produced some 8.2 million ounces of gold through two plants, Brakpan and East Daggafontein. The two plants were purchased by Mintails in 2006.
DRD said it the first gold production could begin within 24 months, depending on the outcome of a feasibility study.
At 0802 GMT, DRD shares were up ZAR0.05, or 0.8%, at ZAR6.15, in line with a rise in Johannesburg's gold mining subindex.
DRD and Mintail's separate venture on the West Rand, agreed in April, is eventually expected to list on the Australian Stock Exchange following an initial public offering. That venture aims to restart mining in the West Rand gold fields, consolidating idled projects owned by the two companies and Mineral & Mining Reclamation Services.
Gold mining first commenced in the Witwatersrand Basin in 1886 and has since produced more than 1.7 billion ounces of gold, representing over 40% of the world's gold production. Massive multimillion ton tailings deposits, which line the outskirts of Johannesburg, are the remnants of over a century of deep underground and open cast mining.
Mintails on its Web site said it currently has the rights to exploit in excess of 330 million tons of sand, slime and rock tailings material, a vast proportion of which is situated on the West Rand about 70 kilometers west of Johannesburg.
Company Web sites: http://www.drdgold.com http://mintails.com

JOHANNESBURG (MarketWatch) -- DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY: drdgold ltd sponsored adr) and Mintails Ltd. (MLI.AU) Thursday said they have formed a joint venture to process gold found in surface tailings on South Africa's East Rand gold fields.
South Africa's DRDGold said the venture has acquired from AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU: anglogold ashanti ltd sponsored adr) , Africa's largest producer of gold, significant gold-bearing tailings materials created from historic gold production. The venture also has bought the remaining infrastructure surrounding the East Rand gold operation, including a surface reclamation operation on the gold fields that was discontinued by AngloGold in 2004.
DRDGold said the joint venture will be equally owned by the South African units of it and Australia's Mintails, and managed by its Crown Gold Recoveries subsidiary.
Company Web site: http://www.drdgold.com

Edited Press Release
JOHANNESBURG (MarketWatch) -- South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers has released its demands for the country's Chamber of Mines, calling for a 15% wage increase for members, the union said Monday.
In terms of allowances from employers falling within the scope of the chamber, the union said it demands ZAR1,500 as a living out allowance for gold workers and ZAR2,850 for coal workers. It further demands that all shift allowance be increased by 3%.
"We strongly believe that the demands are very reasonable and that the employers will soon come to the party without hassles," NUM said.

Robb M. Stewart
JOHANNESBURG (MarketWatch) -- Gold and coal producers in South Africa have been called on to raise wages for unionized workers by at least 15% as collective bargaining looks set to begin.
The National Union of Mineworkers said it sent its demands Friday to the Chamber of Mines, which every two years leads negotiations on behalf of members, including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU: anglogold ashanti ltd) , Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI: gold fields ltd new sponsored adr) and Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY: harmony gold mng ltd sponsored adr) . The union has called for the same 15% wage increase from both the gold and coal industries.
The union, in an e-mailed statement, said it also is calling for an allowance of 1,500 rand ($211) a month for gold workers and ZAR2,850 a month for coal workers who don't use company-provided accommodation, as well as a 3% increase in workers' shift allowance.
"We strongly believe that the demands are very reasonable and that the employers will soon come to the party without hassles," said NUM, South Africa's largest union.
Elize Strydom, negotiator for the chamber, said NUM has made 36 separate demands that must be presented to members. Strydom added the chamber will now look for a mandate for bargaining, and so she doesn't expect negotiations with NUM and other unions to begin for another two weeks.
"They are going to be tough talks, there's no doubt about that," Strydom told Dow Jones Newswires. "Things are going to be fairly drawn out."
Trade union Solidarity last month submitted its demands to the chamber, calling for a 20% wage increase for members at the country's gold producers.
Gold production in South Africa amounted to 62,806.7 kilograms in the first quarter of the year, down 7.6% on the same three months the year before, the Chamber of Mines said in late May. It added cash production costs were almost 20% higher and total operating costs before capital expenditure up nearly 18%.
South Africa, the world's largest producer of gold, in 2005 faced its first industry-wide strike in 18 years when miners downed tools for five days. Workers then accepted a 6% to 7% pay increase for the lowest job categories and an increase of 5.5% to 6% in the second year of the agreement, which is set to expire at the end of June.
NUM, which represents the bulk of miners in the country, and Solidarity are also calling for a 15% wage rise at leading platinum producers Anglo Platinum Ltd. (AMS.JO) and Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMPUY: impala platinum hldgs sponsored adr) , which bargain independently.
Anglo Platinum, which is negotiating with six unions representing about 42,000 workers, last week raised its offer to a 6% pay hike from 5% but dropped an offer of a one-time 30% bonus on the basic monthly salary.

Major Timmins Nickel Acquisition Program Underway - Pacific North West Capital Expands Drill Program by 50% to 3000 meters at West Timmins Nickel Project, adjacent to Xstrata Montcalm Mine in Timmins, Ontario
TSX: PFN OTCBB: PAWEF Frankfurt: P7J

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Stillwater Mining Company (SWC: Stillwater Mining Company) , the largest producer of palladium and platinum in the Western Hemisphere, recently purchased 11% of PFN and is a strategic partner in the search for new platinum group metal discoveries in North America. In addition, Stillwater Mining recently signed a letter of intent to invest a further $4.5 million into PFN's Alaskan exploration and reconnaissance programs including the Goodnews Bay Platinum Project of which PFN is the project operator. Stillwater has followed its position over the last 2 financings and currently owns approximately 10% of PFN.

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Vista Announces Initial Drill Results for Mt. Todd, Australia, Project and Decision to Develop Advanced Projects

Last Update: 10:12 PM ET May 30, 2007

DENVER, May 30, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Vista Gold Corp. (VGZ: vista gold corp com new) ("Vista") is pleased to announce initial results from a drill program underway at its Mt. Todd project in the Northern Territory, Australia. The Corporation is conducting a diamond core drilling program totalling approximately 10,000 meters in 26 holes. The objectives of the program are to obtain information that supports the conversion of inferred gold resources to measured and indicated resources, to explore for additional resources on strike and down dip, to aid in the determination of the copper content of the deposit and to obtain samples for metallurgical testing.
The drilling program began February 1, 2007, and is continuing under the overall supervision of Robert Perry, CPG, Vista's Vice President of Exploration. Mr. Perry is a qualified person for the purposes of Canadian National Instrument 43-101. The core drilling is being completed by Titeline Drilling PL of Australia, and the assaying for gold is being done by Northern Australian Labs in Pine Creek, Northern Territory, Australia, with check assaying by ALS Chemex of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. Multi-element analyses, including copper, are being done by ALS Chemex of Alice Springs and NT Environmental Laboratories Pty. Ltd. of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. All holes were angle holes drilled to intersect mineralization at close to right angles; however, due to physical constraints and the complex nature of the deposit, true thickness of the drilled intervals cannot be assumed from the measured intercepts. Sampling and assaying methods are being conducted in accordance with the CIM Mineral Exploration Best Practices Guidelines. All samples taken were one meter in length.

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Mike Richings, President and CEO, commented, "We are pleased with the drill results at Mt. Todd so far; the early holes are designed to supply the information that will allow the conversion of inferred gold resources into measured and indicated gold resources. These holes will also generate samples that we can assay for copper, which was not determined in previous work on a consistent basis. We believe, based on preliminary test work, copper is pervasive throughout the deposit and Vista's preliminary evaluation determined that a copper concentrate could be separated through flotation, which would also contain about half of the gold. We recognized from the outset that the Mt. Todd ore because of its hardness and other metallurgical characteristics would be difficult to process and the potential production of a copper concentrate at a relatively coarse grind might offer a lower cost solution. With respect to our decision to proceed to develop our most advanced projects, this is a logical step. Our ability to increase our valuation through acquisition of new projects is limited at current gold prices. If we compare our valuation against similar sized companies with similar projects, we have observed that companies with projects actively under development and closer to a production decision are generally accorded greater values by the market. Thus we believe that by proceeding to develop the most advanced of our projects to production decisions, the result could be a higher valuation for the Corporation. We will continue to examine opportunities to add resources at
reasonable prices and to look for other opportunities to extract value from our portfolio for the benefit of our shareholders, but at current gold prices it makes sense for us to add value through developing our best projects."
Since 2001, Vista has acquired a number of discovered gold projects with the expectation that higher gold prices would significantly increase their value. As gold prices have risen, Vista has completed various preliminary evaluations that have confirmed that some of the projects would be potentially viable operations at today's gold prices. Currently, Vista is undertaking technical programs to bring the most advanced projects to the point where decisions can be made to put these projects into production, either by Vista, or through sale or joint venture to other mining companies. Vista's holdings include the Paredones Amarillos and Guadalupe de los Reyes Projects in Mexico, Mt. Todd Project in Australia, Yellow Pine Project in Idaho, Awak Mas Project in Indonesia, Long Valley Project in California, and the Amayapampa Project in Bolivia.

Last Update: 9:54 AM ET May 29, 2007

SPOKANE, Wash., May 29, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Gold Reserve Inc. (CA:GRZ) (GRZ: gold resv inc cl a) announced today that it has closed the previously announced exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment options to purchase an additional US$13,500,000 principal amount of senior subordinated convertible notes ("Convertible Notes") and 962,300 Class A common shares ("Common Shares") at US$5.80 per share. The Company will receive aggregate net proceeds from the exercise of the over-allotment options of approximately US$18 million after deducting underwriting fees and estimated expenses.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offerings and the exercise of the over-allotment options to fund construction activities, equipment purchases and ongoing development of its Brisas project.
The Company granted the over-allotment options to the underwriters in connection with the Company's May 18, 2007 public offering of Convertible Notes and Common Shares. The Convertible Notes were offered and sold to the public at their stated principal amount of US$1,000 per Convertible Note and have a semi-annual cash interest coupon of 5.50% per year. Each US$1,000 principal amount of Convertible Notes is convertible at the option of the holder into 132.6260 Common Shares, subject to adjustment, representing an initial conversion price of US$7.54.
J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and RBC Capital Markets acted as joint book-running managers for the offerings, with Cormark Securities Inc. acting as co-manager.

* Gold Reserve Inc. Closes Underwriters Exercise Of $13.5M Over-allotment Option>GRZ.T

* Gold Reserve Inc. Closes Underwriters' Exercise Of Over-Allotment Option

* Gold Reserve Inc. Closes Over-Allotment Option On Addtl $13.5M In Sr Sub Conv Notes, Shrs

Other companies in the beef snack market include Barrick Gold Corp (ABX:
Barrick Gold Corporation) , Gold Corp (GG: goldcorp inc new com) and Newmont Mining (NEM: Newmont Mining Corporation) .

Turning to the technical analysis side of things, one chart-watcher sees the possibility of a near-term run-up for Newmont Mining (NEM).

"Newmont appears to be on the verge of breaking out," writes Clive Maund, a Chile-based technical analyst. He suggests "aggressive" traders might want to buy call options with a strike price at $40 a share to benefit from the climb he expects.

Other companies in the beef snack market include Barrick Gold Corp (ABX: Barrick Gold Corporation) , Gold Corp (GG: goldcorp inc new com) and Newmont Mining (NEM: Newmont Mining Corporation).