Beiträge von GSP-Komet

  • Compania de Minas Buenaventura (NYSE:BVN)

    Last Update: 5:13 PM ET Dec 28, 2006


    LIMA (MarketWatch) -- Southern Copper Corp. (PCU) signed an agreement with the Peruvian government to make a voluntary payment for social programs, the company said in a statement Thursday.
    In August, President Alan Garcia's government brokered a deal with the mining industry under which companies agreed to make a voluntary "windfall" payment of more than $775 million over five years for social programs.
    The windfall payment was in response to protests by local communities that say they receive little or no benefit from mining in their areas, particularly against a backdrop of rising metals prices and higher production.
    The government unveiled the framework agreement late last week and is now signing individual deals with companies. It said it hopes to sign agreements with 43 companies.
    Agreements signed so far include those with Compania de Minas Buenaventura SAAs (BVN); Minera Yanacocha SRL, operated by Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM); base metals miner Compania Minera Milpo SAA (MILPOC1.VL); and copper-zinc miner Compania Minera Antamina SA, according to a spokesman from the ministry of energy and mines.
    Under the terms of the deal, companies will contribute 3.75% of their net profit after paying income taxes.
    The agreement stipulates, however, that companies already paying royalties of up to 3% on their sales will be able to deduct a significant percentage of those royalties from the voluntary payments.
    The agreement also sets reference prices for the different metals. Should the prices dip below those levels, companies won't be obligated to continue making the payments.

  • Compania de Minas Buenaventura (NYSE:BVN)

    By Rebecca Howard
    Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
    LIMA (MarketWatch) -- A sharp fall in Peru's recent gold production can be tied in part to social problems in this Andean nation, Compania de Minas Buenaventura SAA's (BVN) chief executive Roque Benavides said Tuesday.
    Peru's gold production fell 27% in October from the same month a year earlier, the government's statistics agency has said.
    Gold production at Minera Yanacocha SRL "has fallen around 33% this year and will fall another 33% or more next year. This is a product of social problems," Benavides told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of a ceremony.
    Buenaventura holds a 43.65% share in Yanacocha, one of the biggest gold mines in the world. The mine is operated by Newmont Mining Corp., (NEM) with a 51.35% stake, while the International Finance Corp holds a 5.0% stake.
    According to Benavides, Yanacocha will produce 2.6 million ounces of gold this year and 1.6 million ounces of gold in 2007.
    In 2005 the mine produced 3,333,088 ounces of gold.
    "The fall has nothing to do with the mineral grade but it is the fact that we cannot go into a series of zones and every time we try to develop new projects anti-mining groups appear and make it increasingly difficult," he said.
    Mine Object Of Protests
    Yanacocha has been the object of a series of social protests in recent years.
    In 2004, for example, it was forced to shelve exploration plans in the nearby area known as Cerro Quilish, estimated to contain 3.7 million ounces of gold, after violent protests by farmers who believed the project threatened water supplies.
    According to Benavides, the mining sector as a whole is at risk.
    "We have begun to notice serious symptoms. The number of mining claims has declined over the past year," he said.
    He pointed to the fact that in October's gross domestic product number, the mining sector declined by 9.69% over the same month a year before.
    "It was affected by gold but later it will be affected by other minerals," he said.
    Benavides did laud efforts made by the current government to stave off social protests.
    "We must emphasize that this government and principally Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo has made the effort to confront the problems," he said.
    Del Castillo has been instrumental in negotiating solutions to several conflicts in the mining and hydrocarbons sectors.
    Among other things his office has created a high level commission to prevent social conflicts before they escalate into protests.
    Buenaventura also runs a number of other mines in Peru, mining mainly gold and silver.

  • Newmont Mining Corp. / NEM (NYSE)

    By Rebecca Howard
    Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
    LIMA (MarketWatch) -- A sharp fall in Peru's recent gold production can be tied in part to social problems in this Andean nation, Compania de Minas Buenaventura SAA's (BVN) chief executive Roque Benavides said Tuesday.
    Peru's gold production fell 27% in October from the same month a year earlier, the government's statistics agency has said.
    Gold production at Minera Yanacocha SRL "has fallen around 33% this year and will fall another 33% or more next year. This is a product of social problems," Benavides told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of a ceremony.
    Buenaventura holds a 43.65% share in Yanacocha, one of the biggest gold mines in the world. The mine is operated by Newmont Mining Corp., (NEM) with a 51.35% stake, while the International Finance Corp holds a 5.0% stake.
    According to Benavides, Yanacocha will produce 2.6 million ounces of gold this year and 1.6 million ounces of gold in 2007.
    In 2005 the mine produced 3,333,088 ounces of gold.
    "The fall has nothing to do with the mineral grade but it is the fact that we cannot go into a series of zones and every time we try to develop new projects anti-mining groups appear and make it increasingly difficult," he said.
    Mine Object Of Protests
    Yanacocha has been the object of a series of social protests in recent years.
    In 2004, for example, it was forced to shelve exploration plans in the nearby area known as Cerro Quilish, estimated to contain 3.7 million ounces of gold, after violent protests by farmers who believed the project threatened water supplies.
    According to Benavides, the mining sector as a whole is at risk.
    "We have begun to notice serious symptoms. The number of mining claims has declined over the past year," he said.
    He pointed to the fact that in October's gross domestic product number, the mining sector declined by 9.69% over the same month a year before.
    "It was affected by gold but later it will be affected by other minerals," he said.
    Benavides did laud efforts made by the current government to stave off social protests.
    "We must emphasize that this government and principally Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo has made the effort to confront the problems," he said.
    Del Castillo has been instrumental in negotiating solutions to several conflicts in the mining and hydrocarbons sectors.
    Among other things his office has created a high level commission to prevent social conflicts before they escalate into protests.
    Buenaventura also runs a number of other mines in Peru, mining mainly gold and silver.

  • Compania de Minas Buenaventura (NYSE:BVN)

    Peru's Cerro Verde expansion in commissioning phase


    LIMA (MarketWatch) -- Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde SAA's (CVERDEC1.VL) $850 million expansion to its currently operating mines in Peru is about to come onstream, according to company officials.
    "Commissioning is in process," Cerro Verde President John Broderick said in an email to Dow Jones Newswires.
    That commissioning is the last step before declaring a system fully operational and deeming it qualified to be used in ongoing production, a company spokesman said.
    Cerro Verde, majority-controlled by Phelps Dodge Corp. (PD), currently operates two open-pit mines in southern Peru.
    The two-year expansion project involved building a new concentrator and developing a primary sulfide ore body beneath the leachable ore body currently in production.
    The expansion will allow Cerro Verde to triple current production to roughly 300,000 tons a year.
    Company officials have said the project will begin operations in the last quarter of this year, with the remainder beginning in the first quarter of 2007.
    Broderick also said that the company has recognized that there "are opportunities to expand the mill in the future."
    He added, however, that "we will address future opportunities after the present task is commissioned and implemented."
    Compania de Minas Buenaventura SAA (BVN) and a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corp. (8053.TO) also have equity stakes in the company.

  • AngloGold Ashanti -- AU, ANG (NYS, JSE)

    Impala Platinum taps AngloGold executive Earp as CFO


    JOHANNESBURG (MarketWatch) -- Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMPUY) Tuesday named Dawn Earp, currently an executive at AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU), as chief financial officer to replace David Brown, who in July became chief executive.
    Implats, the world's second largest producer of platinum behind fellow South African company Anglo Platinum Ltd. (AMS.JO), said Earp will join the company on March 1.
    Implats in July named Brown, an employee of the company since 1999 and then CFO, as chief executive after Keith Rumble announced his resignation in order to "pursue other interests." Rumble had been CEO since July 2001.
    Earp is currently the executive officer for finance at AngloGold. Prior to spending six years at the gold mining company, Earp worked for a 10-year period at Anglo American PLC (AAUK).
    At 0915 GMT, Implats shares were trading 1.5% lower at ZAR174.69, broadly in line with a decline in the platinum subsector on the Johannesburg stock exchange.
    Implats in its last fiscal year produced 1.85 million ounces of platinum and 3.5 million ounces of platinum group metals. According to its Web site, its operations on South Africa's Bushveld Complex and the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe give it an attributable reserve and resource base of 183 million ounces of platinum.

  • Richmont Mines Inc./ RIC (TOR, NYSE)

    MONTREAL, QUEBEC, Dec 06, 2006 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Richmont Mines Inc. (CA:RIC: news, chart, profile) (RIC) and Patricia Mining Corp. (CA:PAT) are pleased to confirm that a compliant R 43-101 technical report, prepared by the independent consultant GENIVAR, has been filed on SEDAR on November 30, 2006 in conformity with Richmont Mines' undertaking towards l'Autorite des Marche Financiers (AMF) taken in May 2006.
    The overall resources in the Island Zone were confirmed by recent exploration work and the quality of the resources was upgraded. Definition drilling and underground openings as of June 30, 2006 increased the measured and indicated resources by more than 60% to 189,430 ounces compared with those calculated as at December 31, 2005. Furthermore, GENIVAR concluded that the Island zone remains open at depth and along strike in certain areas. In addition, based on a preliminary review of drill holes in the Lochalsh and Goudreau zones, they also determined that these two zones offer excellent exploration potential to add to the known mineral resources.
    This Mineral Resource estimate is only an estimate of the Island Zone and does not include any evaluation on the Goudreau, Lochalsh, North or Shore zones which are also contained within this project. The Mineral Resource estimate for these zones will be revised once data becomes available.


    The exploration program is ongoing as is the milling of the mineralized material from the underground development. Upon completion of this work, the results of an additional 16,000 metres of diamond drilling will be included to all technical data in order to allow GENIVAR to prepare the reserve calculation for the first quarter of 2007, with the objective of advancing the Island Gold project towards commercial production.
    Richmont Mines and Patricia are also pleased to report that the second gold pour has now been completed. A gold Dore bar weighing approximately 500 ounces has been shipped to the Royal Canadian Mint for refining and final determination of gold content. A third gold pour is scheduled for this week.
    Martin Rivard, President and Chief Executive Officer, Richmont Mines Inc.
    Chris Chadder, President and Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Mining Corp.

  • Newmont Mining Corp. / NEM (NYSE)

    Southwestern Resources Corp. (SWG.T) announced positive drilling results at the Huacullo and Astana gold-silver zones at the Liam Property in Peru and said regional exploration has resulted in the discovery of Aluja, a new gold-silver zone.
    The Vancouver-based mineral-exploration company said the new discovery brings the total number of identified target areas at the Liam Property to 14.
    The Liam Gold-Silver Project, a 50/50 joint venture between Southwestern and Newmont Peru Ltd., covers 367,000 hectares in the Department of Cuzco in the southern portion of the Peru Tertiary Belt.

  • $GOLD:$SILVER Ratio u.a.

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    [Blockierte Grafik: http://www.netcastdaily.com/Experts/roundtable/2006/images/sf2006_med.gif]


    Marc Faber, Editor
    The Boom, Doom & Gloom Report
    David Webb, President & CEO
    Tyhee Development Corp.
    Marek Kreczmer, President & CEO
    Northwestern Mineral Ventures, Inc.
    Allen Ambrose, President
    Minera Andes, Inc.


    James Turk, Editor
    GoldMoney.com
    Cathy Fong, President
    Silvercorp Metals, Inc.
    Ralph Shearing, President & CEO
    Soho Resources Corp.
    Michael Curlook, Investor Relations
    Farallon Resources, Ltd.
    Richard Buzbuzian, Vice President
    ECU Silver Mining, Inc.


    John Doody, Editor
    Gold Stock Analyst
    Dan MacInnis, President & CEO
    Mag Silver Corp.
    David Miller, President & COO
    Strathmore Minerals, Corp.
    Robert Archer, President & CEO
    Great Panther Resources, Ltd.
    Trevor Bremner, P.Geo
    Kodiak Exploration, Ltd.
    Keith Neumeyer, President & CEO
    First Majestic Silver Corp.

  • Compania de Minas Buenaventura (NYSE:BVN)

    Union workers at Peru's Cerro Verde mine begin 48-hour strike


    Last Update: 6:16 PM ET Nov 27, 2006


    LIMA (MarketWatch) -- Union workers began a 48-hour strike at Peruvian copper miner Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde SAA (CVERDEC1.VL) on Monday, union secretary general Zenon Mujica said.


    ...


    Compania de Minas Buenaventura SAA (BVN) and a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corp. (8053.TO) also have equity stakes.

  • Newmont Mining Corp. / NEM (NYSE)

    ...


    Besides the likelihood of Japan and China shuffling their assets, the price could get a boost from weakening financial markets, lower interest rates that "lower the opportunity cost to owning gold," or even something as simple as declining supply confronting growing demand. With this is mind, Larkin has buy ratings on Barrick Gold (ABX) and Newmont Mining (NEM), the world's largest gold-mining outfits.


    ...


    Prices for the yellow metal have been climbing again, and some pros see its strength continuing