Beiträge von Eldorado

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.
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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

Just a couple of trillions (MP3 Radio)

Counterfeit money news:

http://www.silverminers.com/publications/0429.mp3

RNGRG&E Reports Profit In Difficult YearRandgold & Exploration

RANGY("Randgold" or "the Company" or "the Group")In a year that has been extremely challenging because of prevailing marketcircumstances, Randgold & Exploration (RG&E) reported a profit of R120-millionfor the year ending December 31 2004, against a profit of R177-million in theprevious year.The lower profit stems largely from reduced gold production by RandgoldResources, where gold production dropped to 204 194 ounces in 2004 from 317 597in 2003.In the course of the year RG&E disposed of 3.2-million Randgold Resources sharesat a net profit of R133-million. RG&E however maintains a significant stake inRandgold Resources with 31 per cent of the shares. Including in this holding are9.9 million shares that were lent by the company to Bookmark Holdings, anempowerment vehicle set up to help fund the acquisition by Inkwenkwezi Gold of a15% stake in Western Areas from Anglo American. Inkwenkwezi is presentlyfinalizing the purchase of the stake and Bookmark is due to return the shares inJune 2006. RG&E also entered into various transactions with Aflease and PanPalladium during the year and at year-end held 54 million shares directly inAflease worth R75-million, which have subsequently been sold.Despite a difficult start in Angola, the Angolan ventures are now coming onstream which will certainly benefit the bottom line. RG&E chief executive BrettKebble said that RG&E now effectively owns a 45.5% interest in the Cassanguidialluvial diamond mining venture, in the Lunda Norte area of Angola, a concessionwith a history of successful mining. Operations began in December 2004 followingsignificant investment in infrastructure, plant and equipment by Randgold, andalready profitable. In addition, work has started on further concessions atLuxinge and Dando Cuanza, which has several known kimberlite pipes. "Explorationand geological work is underway to develop these high quality deposits, and bothconcessions are expected to start producing in excess of 10 000 carats per monthby the end of 2005," said Kebble. "The diamond potential of Angola is welldocumented and Randgold, together with its strategic partners in Angola, isideally positioned to benefit directly in the expansion of formal miningoperations in the country."RG&E"s earnings from interest increased to R30 million, up from R9- million in2003 because of funding advanced to RG&E"s joint-venture partners in Angola,Inkwenkwezi, a BEE company headed by former Transnet head Mafika Mkwanazi. RG&Ehas also assisted and continues to assist the acquisition by Inkwenkwezi of 19million shares in Western Areas.Through the funding of Inkwenkwezi which is beneficial to both the empowermentconsortium and the company, RG&E continues to be exposed to Randgold Resourcesand Western Areas. Kebble says the South Deep mine is a long-term asset ofconsiderable quality, nearing the end of its development stage and about toincrease production. "The unveiling of the South Deep Twin Shafts in Februarythis year should see gold production double over the next few years," he said.The board is mindful of the current discount to net asset value and is examiningmethods of unlocking shareholder value.Kebble said that within two weeks an announcement would be made regarding thereplacement of two current RG&E directors with independent directors.

http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/zihlmann042905.html

http://www.321gold.com/editori…ilton/hamilton042905.html

On the 2-year chart we can see this strong support at the lows of Spring and Summer last year. We see again the increasingly oversold condition shown by the RSI and MACD indicators, and by the position of the index relative to its moving averages. Of course, given the current weakness and propensity of the PM stocks to move with the broad market (which is not an automatic or permanent state of affairs), this oversold condition can get considerably worse, which is why, although there is a good chance that we are now at or close to the lows, the index may yet decline to the 150 area. In the event that this happens, we would would then be at a major buy spot, provided that the metals do not break down from their long-term up trends in the meantime.

Conclusion: it is unwise to get panicked out at this stage in the game. Traders who have "kept some powder dry" should soon be able to move in and pick up bargains, especially if the index does drop back to the 150 area.

In the obviously unlikely event that this interpretation proves to be incorrect, readers are advised to avail themselves of the words of a song by Bobby McFerrin, entitled "Don't Worry - Be Happy."

29 April, 2005
Clive Maund

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/maund/maund042905.html

Good money will be in gold because:

1/ Gold is finally accepted as a currency by the establishment because of its relationship with the US dollar.
2/ The French-euro situation reveals the euro’s true character as a basket of junk.
3/ The US dollar suffers from systemic problems that will not be addressed in terms of new policy initiatives.
4/ None of the triple deficits in the US will find anything but momentary statistical blips towards surplus as they dive deeper and deeper into red ink.
5/ Gold has a limited supply.
6/ The limited supply of gold can only result in gold’s price rising.
7/ Gold has no nationality therefore it needs no constitution.
8/ Gold has no agenda of spreading either democracy or terrorism.
9/ Gold is universally accepted as a medium of exchange.
10/ Because gold has maintained its buying power over the entire history of mankind, it is a storehouse of value and a measure of value.
11/ With gold being accepted as real money, its function as the most desirable money in terms of medium of exchange, measure of value and storehouse of value, will point the establishment at gold as the best currency earlier than it did in the 12 year bull market for gold from 1968 to 1980. Gold will have met the acid test of what money is defined as.

April 29 – Gold $434.30 up $3.90 – Silver $6.87 down 1 cent

The Easy To Spot US Financial Market Manipulation Is Astounding

"When you possess great treasures within you and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed"
from the alchemist, Pavlo Coelho

It was a wild day all around. Gold firmed up nicely overnight with the AM Fix coming in at $433.20, up $2.70 from the Comex close. As per the usual, gold was taken down into the Comex opening and right after. However, that is when the scene changed. With gold up about a buck The Gold Cartel and other bullion dealers showed up as massive buyers. Gold exploded when the predictable $6 Rule was invoked by the cabal. The high for the day had gold up $5.80.

Whether The Gold Cartel was buying for themselves or clients is a mystery. We don’t know, just that they were ALL buying early, then stopped. Somebody big wanted a lot of gold and those orders had to be filled. Once done, the cabal could get back to business, which is just what they did.

Once again we saw gold make its gains in the very early going and then stopped cold for the rest of the trading session. If you knew nothing else re what GATA has presented over the years, just this and the $6 Rule would be enough to prove this market has been tightly managed. No other market has traded this way throughout history – a strong statement to make, yet a valid one.

The PM Fix was $435.70 due to strong physical market demand. Once the Fix was over, the cabal dug in with one sell order after another.

It was a wild night for rumors and market talk slinging going into the Comex opening. The Microsoft news after the bell last night was designated a miss and the President of the US told the American public in a rare televised press conference there wasn’t anything he could do about gasoline prices in the short-term. His delivery was strong I thought, but nothing which would send our stock market higher.

Then, when in need, the PPT found its old standby rumor, a potential bin Laden capture, to aid its stock market rescue:

05:10 Globex futures rally overnight
Sharp spike in the S&P globex futures between 2:30-4:30 ET attributed, at least in part, to speculation that bin Laden had been captured/killed, spurred by a posting on an Islamist web site. Reuters reports the speculation of the death was misleading. The posting on the site said there was news bin Laden had died, but elaborated that bin Laden could die at any time and Muslims should be prepared. Reuters says the author was likely trying to attract interest to the posting.
Reference Link
* * * * *

There was also talk of a slight Chinese currency revaluation in the near future, which sent the yen soaring. JPM Morgan said it was a done deal and would be announced next week. The dollar fell across the board early with the yen leading the foreign currency charge.

JPMorgan's Gong Predicts China Yuan Shift Next Week

April 29 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s chief China economist Frank Gong expects China will loosen its decade-old peg to the dollar at the end of next week's national holidays. Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings Plc and UBS AG disagree.

Gong made the prediction after China's central bank let the yuan briefly strengthen to 8.2700 per dollar, the most since the exchange rate was fixed in 1995. China currently limits movement in the yuan to 0.3 percent either side of 8.2770.

``The central bank is testing the water before the holiday, when we expect China to move,'' Gong, a former economist at the Federal Reserve, said in an interview in Hong Kong today. A spokesman for the central bank said today there is no change in the country's currency policy for now.

-END-

Sieht heute besser aus, Richtung 180 HUI , ich hoffe es zumindest.

XEX

140-100 sowas passiert keinem angler...

Der ist schon negative:

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/mound/mound040405.html

MoundReport.com's Monthly Gold Report
Gold's Pending Collapse
James Mound
JMTG's Head Analyst
Apr 4, 2005

My gold customers must be quite upset with me at the moment. I have been a gold bull for over two years, but recently the merging of short, intermediate and long term technical views have indicated a large increase in the potential for a bear break in gold. Moreover, the dollar supported out at a critical fundamental and technical price point and appears prime to correct in the near term. With the upcoming Employment Report this Friday one must look at this as a potential catalyst to determine the near term trend in the dollar and in turn metals. I cannot help but be a metals bear and owe my readers what I always provide - an honest view. Gold will be well below $400 by mid-summer .

Almost one month later he writes:

MoundReport.com's Monthly Gold Report
Gold to Explode Next Week
James Mound
JMTG's Head Analyst
Apr 29, 2005

Apparently there is a large audience out there that did not like last month's article about Gold's Pending Collapse, as I was bombarded with the most negative feedback from readers in my nearly decade long career as a commodities analyst. All I can say in response is that it lets me know I was definitely on to something. A funny thing happens when you go contrarian. You notice over time that contrarian views only work when no one thinks you are right - and last month was pretty darn close. So this month I come to you with the same view but a warning about next week - watch out.

Ulfur

Dem habe ich auch geschrieben dass er mit seinen predictions nicht mehr up to date ist und wegen Reichtum nicht mehr viel macht in der Sache.
Da kann man auch eine Muenze werfen

http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/chan042805.html

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/mound/mound042905.html

Tschonko

Weidmanns Heil !

Aber was ist Weidmanns Pech ?......
Die Buechse in der Hand und der Hund steht nicht.

April 28 – Gold $430.50 down $1.60 – Silver $6.88 down 24 cents

US Stock Market In Trouble

"The enemies of truth are always awfully nice." --Christopher Morely

Gold firmed up in London with the AM and PM Fix coming in at $432.75 and $432.50 respectively. However, the cabal induced raid turned the funds and ETFs into sellers as so often happens after a substantial price drop. The dealers were buyers.

The huge run-up in open interest on Tuesday, one which only produced a relatively small rally, said it all. The Gold Cartel was not about to let gold take off and create further excitement over inflation. To give you some further idea how concerted the cabal’s efforts were, the open interest rose over 11,000 contracts on a $3 rally. Yesterday, it only fell 3652 contracts on a $5 fall. That explains how aggressive the cartel was with their selling above $436.

$430 support held again. $429 was the last major resistance point of the cabal. As long as these price levels holds on a closing basis, the gold technicals remain solid. The base formed below this area is strong enough to send the price much higher.

The dollar rose .26 to 54.36, while the euro lost .48 to 129.07.

When I get upset at the gold industry CEOs, it is as a group and an industry. Certainly, there are many fine and responsible gold company CEOs out there. We hope to attract as many of them as possible to GR21. We just need more of them (like the ones at Samex and Klondike Star who are responsible for making GR21 a go).

However, it is a shame to see so much gold shareholder equity disappear. It is astonishing the share prices could go down so much with the price of gold higher than where it was at then end of 2003. Gold shareholders are getting the shaft because of The Gold Cartel price manipulation. Yet, only the GATA camp is making an effort to end the capping. As I have said for a very long time, ending the price rigging is by far the most important issue for the industry. That should be very apparent now to ailing shareholders.

A good example of how sick this industry is, one only need look at the World Gold Council. With the potential IMF gold sale an overhang on the market to some degree, they should be out there taking the IMF to task by explaining supply is supply and it WOULD have a major effect on the market any way you slice it. They should be touting the impact it would have on employment in the sub-Saharan gold producing countries, etc. Instead they go silent or say they have to ponder the idea. What is there to ponder?

Silver is on rollover time on the Comex and it seems a number of specs are exiting rather than rolling over. The open interest dropped 5,577 contracts to 106,450.

I have been asked why I have not dealt with silver much of late. It’s because I have no clue what is going on here. Every time it looks ready to rumble to the upside, it gets bashed. The only input I have is from our STALKER’s source in London, who says the market remains very tight and bullish. He says without the paper traders on the Comex, the price of silver would be sharply higher.

The John Brimelow Report

XAU comfort?

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Indian premiums: AM $3.91, PM $4.11, with world gold at $432.20 and $432.00. Taking the reporting cities as a whole, ample for legal imports.

The active TOCOM contract was down 14 yen, and world gold was down 60c from the NY close. Volume equaled 24,768 Comex (+ 37%). Open interest was static. (+26 contracts)

Yesterday NY traded 58,388 contracts, with open interest dropping only 3,502 lots. This raises the possibility that some of the selling pressure yesterday was shorting. Several commentators note the robust nature of physical buying on the lows; no doubt seen again today.

An interesting post appeared on Bill Murphy’s LeMetropoleCafe yesterday:

"I have found that viewing the gold market from an oblique viewpoint (in this case the XAU to GOLD ratio) is often better than looking at the actual metal or the mining shares.

Today, April 27th, 2005 we find the ratio at 0.1930. All sell-off periods during this bull market going back to November, 2000 have seen this ratio bottom in slightly sub-.19 level numbers, so we are getting close to a bottom again, the evidence suggests. " one can say with absolute confidence that buying gold shares at a ratio of 0.20 XAU:gold substantially reduces one´s risk relative to the price of bullion."

JB

CARTEL CAPITULATION WATCH

Ich hoffe die Asiaten und Russen spaeter schmeissen ihnen bald die Fiat Dollars vor die Fuesse als Antwort. Und die T-Bonds hinterher !
Diese Saubande spielt sich als Weltherrscher auf und moechte jeder so dirigieren dass sie weiter wie der Wurm im Speck leben koennen, auf kosten anderer natuerlich.

Tick. tick, die bombe geht auch los wenn der Zeiger stehen bleibt.

XEX