Beiträge von Eldorado

Gold miners tossed about in March quarter

May 1, 2005

By Nicky Smith

Johannesburg - The March quarter lived up to its reputation as the worst for gold companies as all the local producers reported lower volumes and higher costs.

The four majors - DRDGold, Harmony, Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti - are all very different companies, but all were affected by the weak US dollar. Margins were eroded as the currencies in which they pay expenses appreciated against the dollar.

The local gold industry's battle with the strong rand is well documented. Perhaps the most dramatic evidence of just how much the rand has been hurting it was the partial implosion of DRDGold's Northwest Operations.

Mark Wellesley-Wood, the chief executive, said it had felt as though the company had been visited by the seven plagues of Egypt. Earthquakes, fires, technical failures and unseasonally high rainfall - never forgetting the lower rand gold price - forced DRD to make the controversial decision to liquidate its Northwest Operations, which account for about a third of the company's production.

The move puts about 6 000 jobs on the line if the liquidators are not able to find a firm to buy it.

But, as ever, Wellesley-Wood was upbeat about the new-look DRD, describing the March quarter "as the storm before the calm".

And a little ray of sunshine fell on its Blyvoor mine, which broke even during the quarter.

Next to report was Harmony, which has been restructuring to deal with the stronger rand.

The company reported an awesome R1.7 billion loss for the quarter, and in the days that followed the share price dropped to lows last seen four years ago.

Harmony was forced to write down the value of some of its mines, which accounted for about R1.5 billion of the loss.

Efforts to outpace the rand were destroyed by a two-week strike at the Free State operations.

In the past year, the company has retrenched about 8 000 people. The last of the large retrenchments of 4 900 workers from the Free State is under way.

Chief executive Bernard Swanepoel said the costs of Harmony's bid for Gold Fields had totalled R150 million to date.

Gold Fields' earnings for the quarter plunged 86 percent to R11.2 million despite solid cost control. Costs associated with defending itself from Harmony's unsolicited advances were responsible for a large chunk of the disappointing earnings performance. Gold Fields has to date spent about R170 million on the bid.

At least 20 percent of the group's South African production is loss making, and while it valiantly managed to keep its costs flat it was the operations in Ghana and Australia that gave the performance a pinch of pep.

AngloGold Ashanti reported on Friday that the restructuring of its hedge book had started to pay off as the company was able to get better prices for its gold than it had in the past.

Chief executive Bobby Godsell indicated on Friday that AngloGold had revised its estimates of how quickly the assets it had inherited in its merger with Ashanti a year ago could be turned around.

AngloGold reported earnings of R76 million versus R253 million in the December quarter.

Gold – The Weekly Global Perspective Week Ending the 29th April 2005

http://news.goldseek.com/AuthenticMoney/1115002800.php

GOLD/HUI Divorce ?

by Eric Hommelberg
April 30, 2005

The correction in Gold stocks never seems to end and gets more frustrating day by day. Even on solid up days in Gold the HUI manages to go down. On Tuesday April 26 the HUI went down 4.35 points despite the $3 rise in Gold. Emotions are running high, panic is kicking in,investors are running away in droves losing faith in the once almighty HUI. Some Gold advisors are jumping onto the bearish side as well leaving the gold share holders confused about what to do. But there’s light at the end of this long dark tunnel. Extreme under valuations never persist for ever and it’s my strong believe that we might be close to a bottom here.

Now what to expect from the HUI coming weeks ?
A continued crash towards the 160's or even 150's area as some analysts do suggest ? Or a rebound triggered by rising Gold prices ? Well, I just don’t see the HUI crashing further without a severe decline in the price of Gold. Why not ? A price of Gold above $420 and a HUI at 150 just doesn’t make sense, it would lead to the greatest spread ever between Gold and HUI which of course CAN happen but very unlikely to happen imo since pushing the extreme undervaluation of the Gold shares into even higher extremes is like pushing a car hill upwards by hand on a road getting steeper every single feet. Needless to say that resistance will increase by every single step you take and at some point you’ll reach the limits of your muscle power and have to give up thereby surrendering the car to natural forces (gravity) which guarantees the car a downhill ride. The car starts rolling down thereby gaining speed and momentum. Nobody in his right mind is going to step in front of this rolling car in order to halt it. People willing to push the car by hand again will wait until its speed and momentum are reduced to zero. Same analogy can be applied to stocks. Short sellers can push the undervaluation of shares to extremes but resistance will grow. At some point the short seller will be overwhelmed by bargain hunters (new longs) and has to capitulate. Now the price starts to rise and will attract more new longs. The short seller won’t think twice and starts to cover his established short positions in order to guarantee his profits. The shorts themselves are adding fuel now to the rise in the depressed shares thereby attracting even more fresh buyers (momentum players). Now this whole thing is gaining momentum and no short seller on the side line will get it in his right mind to step in front of these new long-players in order to halt the rise. No, the short seller patiently waits until upward momentum fades away before attacking again.

This article will show that current under valuation of Gold shares (related to Gold) is at such an extreme that it’ll be hard for short sellers to push these extremes to even higher levels. So the only option for a continued HUI crash seems to be a severe decline of the Gold price itself. Therefore it’s useful to take a look at the Gold charts first and see what they have to tell.

The chart below shows Gold in a classic triangle pattern.

As bleak as things look right now, it seems to me that technically at least we are in a standard correction of a 5-wave move up from December 2000 HUI 35 to December 2003 HUI 258. This correction appears to be forming into an A-B-C movement with the C leg now forming. If traditional Elliott Wave analysis is worth anything (and that's a big if in a rigged market), then the A-B-C correction is nearing its end. If the C leg ends up equal length to the A leg, then the end will come around 155 on the HUI chart. But of course it could be over right now, or anywhere in between 175 and 155. There is massive support in the 165-172 range. Moreover, nothing mandates that the A leg and the C leg must be equal in length. And this is even more true in a rigged market.

Naturally this correction could be extended (see the chart below) with prices continuing to move in a sideways chop with a D leg up to around the 230 area and then an E leg descending down to the 185 area over the next couple of months to complete a massive pennant. Out of this pennant formation, a third impulse wave up would then be launched sometime this summer.

Shock! Horror! Splat!

http://www.321gold.com/editori…z/schultz050205_gcru.html

If you own gold stocks and follow the gold market at all, then you are aware that the stocks declined by almost twenty percent since the middle of March, while the gold price itself has remained relatively unchanged. Why?

One possibility is that investors anticipate a decline in the gold price. Gold stocks don't always correctly indicate coming changes in the gold price, but they are right more often than they are wrong.

Another possibility is that gold stocks have simply declined along with all the other stocks: the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down nine percent since the beginning of March.

Yet another possibility is that gold stocks are down because investors are disillusioned by the earnings from the sector. Take Newmont, the largest gold mining company in the world, as an example: it had marginally lower first quarter earnings than last year, despite a ten percent rise in the dollar gold price. Why own gold stocks if a ten percent increase in the gold price does nothing to their earnings? Given the leverage that gold mining stocks should have to the gold price, a ten percent increase should result in a substantial increase in earnings.

The reason why many gold mining companies are hardly making any more money now than they were a year ago is that the gold price has been rising in US dollars because the US dollar has been falling on foreign currency markets. That means if a company is mining gold outside the United States (and not in any area where the US dollar is the de facto currency), it may not have had any benefit from the rise in the US dollar gold price. The gold price in many other currencies has not risen at all.

Having said that, let me add that I don't know of any gold mining companies with projects exclusively in the US that are worth owning. I own a few gold exploration companies working in Alaska and Nevada, but no gold producers. The problem is that the big names, like Newmont, Barrick and Placer Dome, are so geographically diversified that they cannot be called US gold mining companies. They may be listed on US stock exchanges, but because their operations are scattered all over the world, the increase in the US dollar gold price has had a marginal, if any, impact on their bottom line earnings.

Does this mean that gold stocks will continue to under-whelm us when the US dollar gold price strengthens?

If the market were rational the answer would be yes. Only the stock of those gold mining companies that have direct leverage to the falling US dollar (in other words, gold mines in the US) should see their share prices increase as the dollar falls.

However, a falling dollar not only means more dollar revenue for gold production, it will ultimately also lead to higher production costs. But the operating margins of gold mining companies with direct leverage to the falling US dollar should continue to expand for two reasons. Firstly, assuming the mine is cash flow positive, the increase in cost is on a lower base than the increase in revenues. Say the production cost is $300 an ounce and the gold price is $400 an ounce. The operating margin is therefore $100 an ounce. A ten percent increase in both revenue and cost would also result in a ten percent increase in operating margin: 440 - 330 = 110. Secondly, the increase in revenue from a decline in the dollar is instantaneous while the increase in costs will come more gradually. Therefore, as long as the dollar falls faster than the rate of inflation (the most likely scenario) the operating margins of a US based gold mining company should increase much more rapidly than the example above.

But the market is not rational. Most investors still look at the US dollar gold price as "the" gold price and when gold increases in US dollars they buy gold stocks almost indiscriminately. Once enough investors figure out that an increase in the US dollar gold price does not necessarily benefit all gold mining companies, then the gold stocks as a sector could very well under-perform the US dollar gold price.

Is this already happening? I do not think enough investors are paying attention to the geographical location of mining operations and the impact of currency exchange rates yet. So I suspect that the lackluster performance of gold stocks at the moment has more to do with the general malaise in the market.

We are at a precarious point in the economy and the financial markets. I have written much about where I think the dollar, the gold price and the economy is going. I don't see anything to change that view. Rather, I see current events as confirming that we are on track to see a major decline in US economic growth, further weakening of the dollar and, as a result, much higher US dollar gold prices.

Paul van Eeden

Petzi
Da kennst du dich ja am besten aus, du lebst ja hinter den Mond

Posted to the web on: 29 April 2005
Decline in SA’s gold output ’hard to reverse’

John Fraser

LAST year saw the sharpest fall in global gold output since 1943, with SA, Indonesia and Australia being worst affected, according to a new survey by London-based consultancy GFMS.

The survey said that the decline in SA’s output would be difficult to reverse.

“Mine suspensions and shaft closures featured heavily (in SA) last year, principally as a consequence of the rand-dollar exchange rate,” GFMS said.

Meanwhile, South African mines faced a 15% jump in cash costs in dollar terms, due to the strong rand as well as hefty price rises for fuel, water and energy.

The report said global prospects for this year “appear to be somewhat brighter” with a projected 4% rise in gold output.

The GFMS survey was upbeat on the prospects for the gold price, saying there was “considerable scope over the next year for an event-driven spike in the gold price towards the $500 (an ounce) mark.”

It said a new wave of investment demand in the second half of this year “will drive gold prices to well above last year’s high of $454/oz”.

“Political tensions, having arguably declined somewhat this year to date, are set to grow in the second half, perhaps significantly so,” the report said.

“In particular, the situation in the Middle East remains highly volatile, especially against the backdrop of record nominal oil prices,” it said.

It also said global jewellery fabrication rose 5% last year, a rise which was “particularly noteworthy given that dollar gold prices rose almost 13% last year”.

http://news.goldseek.com/ZihlmannInvest/1114783380.php

COMEX gold settles higher on bargain hunting

Fri Apr 29, 2005 02:35 PM ET

NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) - U.S. gold futures rebounded sharply to settle higher Friday on speculative buying after a previous slide in the metals complex uncovered keen physical interest in gold at lower prices, dealers said.
June delivery gold (GCM5: Quote, Profile, Research) on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division rose $3.70 to $437.40 an ounce, after trading between $431.90 and $438 and erasing Thursday's decline to the lowest level since mid-month.

"There is heavy short covering by the hedge funds. And yesterday, lower prices brought a lot of fresh physical buying into the market," said Ian MacDonald, managing director of precious metals at International Assets Holding Corp.

But despite the bargain-hunting bounce before the weekend and upcoming holidays overseas next week, gold still was wedged in a tight trading range.

Additionally, some dealers warned it was possible central bank selling could resume with gold prices back in the $440s.

Major resistance looms up near $440, potentially blocking a move toward the next target at $448, said MacDonald. He pegged chart support at $428-$430.

Estimated COMEX gold turnover hit 55,000 contracts, above Thursday's final tally at 43,100 lots. Open interest fell 296 to 298,136 contracts.

Spot gold last changed hands at $434.30/5.00 an ounce, versus Thursday's close in New York at $430.65/1.40. Friday's afternoon fix in London was at $435.70.

London's commodity markets will be closed on Monday for the May Day holiday. China will also shut that day for a labor day holiday, and Japan will close all next week for Golden Week.

In a report sponsored by Mitsui Precious Metals, major gold miners looked to have put the brakes on hedging activities in the first quarter of 2005, compared with the previous two quarters.

During the past four years, major gold miners have massively reduced their hedge books, which commit them to sell at a fixed price that may be lower than the market -- as bullion prices rose to their highest in more than 16 years close to $460.

The report said hedging by the four largest hedgers -- Anglogold Ashanti (ANGJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) , Barrick (ABX.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) , Newcrest (NCM.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) and Placer Dome (PDG.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) -- was just 500,000 ounces, compared with levels of around 2 million ounces in recent quarters.

Meanwhile, the dollar's fall Friday and concerns about inflation amid high energy prices and after soft U.S. first quarter economic growth supported gold in its role as an alternative investment, traders said.

The dollar fell as speculation mounted that China was ready to revalue its pegged currency soon, which could set off a rally in Asian currencies. But the euro turned lower in the afternoon, sliding to $1.2869 from above $1.29 earlier.

U.S. consumers turned a bit more glum about the future in April as they struggled with record gasoline prices and sluggish wage growth, reports showed on Friday.

Separate reports showed Midwestern manufacturing ticking along at a faster-than-expected rate this month, and consumer spending -- and inflation -- higher in March.

Economists said the data did little to change the outlook for interest rates. Federal Reserve officials gather Tuesday and are widely seen raising benchmark overnight rates by a quarter percentage point to 3 percent.

In silver, further speculative liquidation sent prices to a fresh one-month low after the market dropped steeply on Thursday in busy May-into-July contract rollover.

July silver (SIN5: Quote, Profile, Research) shed 0.8 cent to $6.94 an ounce -- its lowest close for active futures since late March, after moving between $6.90 and $7.06.

Spot silver eased to $6.87/90 from the last New York close near $6.88/91. Friday's fix in London was at $6.98.

On the NYMEX, July platinum (PLN5: Quote, Profile, Research) rose $3.60 to finish at $868.60 an ounce. Spot platinum touched $868/873.

June palladium (PAM5: Quote, Profile, Research) climbed $1.90 to $197.90 an ounce, after settling Thursday at a one-month low of $196. Spot palladium priced at $195/199.

Geht er nun hoch in der naechsten Woche ??

steph

Fuer mich ist das ganze management von Harmony ein haufen Gangster die uns ganz schoen verschaukelt haben. Ich habe nun seit einiger Korrespondenz mit Dippenaar mir diese Meinung gebildet und ich habe mein Vertrauen in Harmony verloren. Sobald ich kann habe ich dann nur mehr 15% von dem Stock den ich vorher hatte. Mit GFI fuehle ich mich wesentlich sicherer , die haben wenigstens ein besseres Fingerspitzengefuehl als die dummen Afrikaaner bei Harmony.
Fuer mich haben die Freimaurer Swanepoel & Co benutzt um die RSA Aktien in den Keller zu druecken und spaeter sie billigst zu schnappen wenn die zeit gekommen ist. Die Amis regieren unsichtbar RSA !!!
Fuer mich ist der geschmierte Swanepoel der neue Gold De Klerk von RSA der uns alle verkauft hat und spaeter schoen in Rente lebt im Ausland natuerlich !

IMHO

Gruss

XEX

Also ich weiss nicht so recht und denke mir dass der Dollar noch fuer zwei bis vier Monate stark sein wird. Mitte des Jahres faellt er ab und man sollte dann besser Nordamerikanische Minen im Depo haben die dann mehr Profit machen wenn zusaetzlich der Goldpreis steigt nach dem Fall des Dollars.Aber man kann nicht viel falsch machen mit der Diversifikation die Goldesel empfiehlt.

Zur Zeit sind NEM, GG,GLG,IAG, PDG,CDE,HL sehr guenstig und es gibt auch einige sehr gute projekte in Nevada, siehe Cortez trend,ein thread von Frr in diesen Forum. Nevada wird bestimmt ein interessanter Platz in der nahen Zukunft wenn die Amis mehr graben muessen im eigenen Land.

Ich schaetze dass der USD mit CAD und CHF gleichstand erreicht in diesen Jahr. Ich wuerde mich erstmal fernhalten von den Waehrungen wie Rand bis sie eindeutig fallen und ca. 20% in physical Gold oder Silber anlegen als Rueckendeckung.

mfg

XEX

Police warn of bogus cops

29/04/2005 16:05 - (SA)

Related Articles :

Bogus cops rape woman

Bogus cops arrest, rob man

Bogus cops hijack man's car

Bogus cops hijack truck

Bogus cops dupe police

Johannesburg - Bogus police have been robbing people on the East Rand, ordering their victims to go with them and holding them up at gunpoint if they disobey, police warned on Friday.

In the most-recent incident, on Thursday, four men and a woman "apprehended" a 54-year-old man in Boksburg.

"When the man became suspicious and tried to flee, one of the men threatened him with a firearm," said superintendent Andy Pieke.

"They took R2 500 and fled."

Earlier this month, also in Boksburg, three men questioned a 33-year-old woman in connection with a "stolen bag".

"A while later they threatened the woman with a firearm and took R4 000 cash she had on her and fled.

Pieke said people should be especially wary after withdrawing large amounts of cash and ensure they were not followed or distracted.

He advised that if they feared something was wrong, they should return to the bank or go somewhere where there was a security presence.

Edited by Iaine Harper

Traffic-fines chaos for CT

29/04/2005 22:18 - (SA)

Theuns van der Westhuizen

Cape Town - Attempts to collect about R405m in outstanding traffic fines in the Cape metropole area have ended in chaos - again.

This time, a computer problem has resulted in thousands of suspected traffic offenders receiving invalid tickets sent out by Labat Traffic Solutions - the company appointed by the Cape Town council to oversee the collection of fines.

Attempts to collect the money were delayed initially after data had to be gathered from seven municipalities and then entered into a single system.

After this, those who had to serve summonses complained last year that Labat was not giving them enough work.

Rudi Wolter, spokesperson for the office of the mayoral committee for safety and security, said the latest problem was discussed on Friday morning with Labat and senior officials.

They were asked to investigate the technical and legal aspects of the problem and to submit a report by Tuesday.

Details of the findings and how the issue will be dealt with will be released on Wednesday.

Traffic tickets were not sent out

Wolter explained that, at this stage, it appeared as if details pertaining to offences caught on traffic cameras in January and February were entered into Labat's data system.

But, the actual tickets were not issued or sent out to offenders.

As a result, offenders were not issued with their first warnings within 30 days of committing the offence.

The computer was programmed to issue a second ticket - or reminder - at a specific time. This was done.

Steps have been taken to prevent similar problems from happening in future.

Wolter said the city council and its traffic department were not focused on making money from traffic fines.

"Our purpose is to make roads and streets safer for everyone. Offenders must be brought to book, even if it is long after the offence took place."

Edited by Iaine Harper

Cops 'forget' to fetch accused

29/04/2005 22:18 - (SA)

Middelburg - Two men suspected of murdering a 15-year-old girl during a satanic ritual failed to appear in the magistrate's court as scheduled on Friday.

This happened after police forgot to collect one suspect, Selwin Jacobs, 20, from a psychiatric hospital in Grahamstown.

Jacobs and Leonardo Brown, 19, have been charged with murder after Melanie Esau's decomposed body was found on January 15.

At the time of the discovery, there were rumours that Melanie's heart had been removed and that parts of her body had been cut off and eaten by her killers.

Jacobs was sent for psychiatric observation while a district surgeon found there was nothing wrong with Brown. The two suspects will appear in court on May 3.

Edited by Iaine Harper

AnGold Ashanti fails to shine

Apr 29 2005 05:44:30:687PM

Johannesburg - World number two gold miner AngloGold Ashanti has reported a 63% decline in headline earnings per share for its March 2005 quarter to 39 cents from 104 cents in the December 2004 quarter.

Analysts had expected a marginal increase in headline earnings per share to 68 cents, with forecasts ranging from 55 cents to 78 cents.

AngloGold Ashanti gold output fell 5% to 1.569 million troy ounces in the March quarter

Following its long planned closure, the group's Ergo mine in South Africa was being treated as a discontinued operation and the December 2004 quarter's numbers had been restated to exclude Ergo.

The group also attributed the decline in production to lower South African production and usually strong performances during the December 2004 quarter at its 40% held Morila mine in Mali and Cerro Vanguardia in Argentina, in which AngloGold Ashanti has a 92.5% stake.

The group's gold price received rose 7% to R82 152/kg from R76,691/kg or US$424/oz from $395/oz. The increase in the price was attributed to the restructure of the group's hedge announced in January 2005.

The restructuring of the hedge announced in January had "delivered the intended positive impact on our received price more closely matching the average spot price for the quarter", AngloGold Ashanti Chief Executive Officer Bobby Godsell said.

AngloGold Ashanti's total cash costs rose 2.8% to R54 778/kg from R53 299/kg or $284/oz from $274/oz.

The group's total net delta of its hedge position rose to 10.72 million oz at the end of March from 10.49 million oz at the end of December 2004.

As at Tuesday this week, AngloGold Ashanti's marked-to-market value of its hedge book stood at a negative $1.046bn based on a gold price of $432/oz, the group said.

Ashanti assets
In respect of the former Ashanti assets, Godsell said that the March quarter had seen improvements in many areas.

After five quarters of decline, gold production at the Obuasi mine increased by 2% to 92 000 oz, with tonnage treated up 10% on the previous quarter.

"I'm pleased to say that during April, underground grades at Obuasi have improved by one gram per ton and management expects production to show progressive increases in each of this year's remaining quarters," Godsell said.

While production at Siguiri in Guinea, 85% held by AngloGold Ashanti, was constant quarter-on-quarter, total cash costs improved 9%.

At Iduapriem in Ghana, in which the group has an 85% stake, production improved 10% with cash costs down 19%.

Similarly, Geita in Tanzania, wholly owned by the group, saw production up slightly with total cash costs down 19%.

"These improving trends across the Ashanti assets are important and give me much encouragement about what these assets can contribute to this company as the year progresses," Godsell said.

Margins

Referring to margins, he observed that it was undoubtedly a great frustration for investors that as the gold price had risen over the past year, margins in gold companies had shrunk.

One of the drivers of the higher gold price was the weaker US dollar, which in turn meant stronger operating currencies in almost all of AngloGold Ashanti's producing regions including Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Namibia and South Africa.

Added to this, significantly higher oil prices and the growth demands of China had translated into price inflation in many of the company's consumables such as cement, tyres and steel.

Quantum increases in the cost of contract mining were also being seen, AngloGold Ashanti said.

"The net impact for this company is higher total cash costs expressed in US dollar terms and reduced margins. This is the challenge that we have to take head on as we seek to improve our returns to investors," Godsell said.

"This year we have budgeted for a further $50 million in cost savings, following the $50 million in savings we achieved last year. In light of the continuous cost pressure evident this quarter, additional measures are being implemented to ensure that the company reaches its published total cash cost target for the year of $273/oz," he added.

TVI Pacific Inc.: Rapu Rapu- Commissioning Starts

Friday April 29, 12:22 pm ET

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(CCNMatthews - April 29, 2005) - TVI Pacific Inc. (TSX:TVI - News): The Rapu Rapu project, located in the province of Albay, Philippines, is a polymetallic mining project which a group of companies including Lafayette Mining Limited, a publicly traded Australian company, is developing.
ADVERTISEMENT


TVI retains a 2.5% net smelter return royalty (NSR) in the project.

The following is a verbatim reproduction from a Lafayette news release issued on April 29, 2005

Commissioning starts at Rapu Rapu

The Rapu Rapu polymetallic project in the Philippines is on track for first gold production this quarter with the commencement of process plant commissioning this week. Andrew McIlwain, Lafayette Mining's Managing Director, said today that commissioning of the Rapu Rapu Project has commenced with the crusher, belts and feeders operating this week.

"Crushing of the first ore is an important milestone for the project and confirms we are on track for our first gold production this quarter. This will be followed by commissioning of the base metals plant later in the year", Mr McIlwain said.

"The team on site have done a tremendous job in delivering this outcome despite some delays caused by adverse weather conditions late last year. This affected shipping and construction activities".

Following the successful installation of the two mills that were transported from the US, good progress has been made with the installation of the power plant and other infrastructure.

Mr McIlwain said, "Leightons have made excellent progress over the past month and this has also included the final delivery and installation of the gold plant equipment. Our focus will now be on the commissioning of the SAG mill and leach circuit."

Additionally, the mining team has backed up the construction work with the open pit pre-strip work completed and ore grade material accessed. This ore is currently being stockpiled in readiness for full plant commissioning.

"We have reached an exciting phase in the development of the Rapu Rapu project and the Lafayette Board are appreciative of the efforts of our site team, Leighton Contractors (Philippines), our Philippine and Korean partners and the project's financiers in bringing the project to this stage", Mr McIlwain said.

About Lafayette Mining Limited (ASX: LAF - News)

Lafayette Mining Limited, through its subsidiary companies and Philippine partners, hold an interest in the Rapu Rapu polymetallic project in the Philippines. The Rapu Rapu mineral resource will support an initial 6 year mine life producing approximately 10,000 tonnes of copper in concentrates, 14,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrates, 50,000 ounces of gold and 600,000 ounces of silver annually.

Construction commenced in mid 2004 under a fixed price construction contract with Leighton Contractors (Philippines) Inc. covering the plant, wharf, and associated infrastructure. Mining works started in early 2005 with the first production from the gold plant scheduled in the second quarter of 2005 and base metals concentrate production to commence three months later.

The Project is financed through a syndicate of banks comprising NM Rothschild & Sons (Australia) Limited, ANZ Investment Bank, ABN AMRO Bank NV (Australian Branch), Korea First Bank and Investec Bank (Mauritius) Limited. Lafayette made its first drawdown of funds under this facility in early September 2004.

The Project has also secured the support of LG International Corporation and KORES, the Korean government strategic resources investment arm, whom together, hold 26% of Lafayette's subsidiary company, Lafayette Philippines Inc.

The recent decision by the full bench of the Supreme Court of the Philippines in favour of the Mining Sector has reinforced recent political statements also in favour of the industry. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has announced her Administration's full support of the mining industry and this comes at a time when commodity prices permit a more aggressive project development approach.

In a major thrust to support investment in the sector, the Philippines government is now committed to implementing streamlined procedures for mining applications which investors can be confident will be administered under a clear policy directive to support resource development in a transparent and sustainable manner.

Lafayette is fortunate that the advanced stage of development of Rapu Rapu is timely both in the context of the current metal price environment and the changed political landscape in the Philippines.

For further information, visit: http://www.lafayettemining.com

"TVI Pacific Inc. would like to congratulate the Lafayette team on reaching the important milestone of commencement of process plant commissioning. Lafayette's first projected gold pour this quarter means cash flow for TVI from it's 2.5% NSR royalty in the very near term, said Clifford M. James, TVI's President."

Ian Perry, P.Geo. of Norwest Corporation, serving as TVI's "Qualified Person" for purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Deposits ("NI-43-101"), has reviewed this news release.

Bei den Aussies ist das selbe problem wie in RSA mit der starken Waehrung.

Tschonko

Ja,einige analysten sind gut zum lesen und die richtung stimmt.
Momentan ist noch vieles unklar aber ende naechster woche sollte sich doch eine neue richtung zeigen. Ich habe wieder festgestellt,obwohl es sich vielleicht laecherlich anhoert,dass bei Vollmond es meistens runter geht, speziell drei Tage hinterher.

Ich wuensche allen ein schoenes Wochenende.

Gruss

Eldorado