Beiträge von Eldorado

RNGRandgold & Exploration Company Limited - Trading StatementRANDGOLD & EXPLORATION COMPANY LIMITED

(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)(Registration Number 1992/005642/06)Share code: RNG ISIN: ZAE000008819Nasdaq trading symbol: RANGY("Randgold")Trading Statement

Randgold is expecting a decrease of between 35% and 55% in earnings per shareand a further decrease of 480% and 495% in headline earnings per share for the12 month period ended 31 December 2004 ("the preliminary results") compared tothat of the last comparative period.The information in this trading statement has not been reviewed or reported onby Randgold"s auditors. The release of the preliminary results announcement isexpected to be published on or about 28 April 2005.Johannesburg26 April 2005

Ladies and Gentleman, die 180 halten !
Und ihr seht sie nie mehr wieder.....wenn ich mich nicht irre
Am Freitag ist er bei 194, dass shorten wird zu ende gehen, wie alles andere auch !

Ja, wo ist nun der Boden

Unglaublich aber wahr, der HUI wird nach wie vor trotz hoeheren goldpreis geshorted von dunklen maechten wie Yoyo sagt.

gruss

XEX

valueman

Robert M. Friedland

http://www.ivanhoe-mines.com/s/Home.asp

Ivanhoe to commence drilling on Bronze Fox gold-copper discovery, southern Mongolia

Tuesday April 26, 8:30 am ET

ULAANBAATAR, :DMongolia, April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Ivanhoe Mines Executive Vice-President, Exploration, Douglas Kirwin announced today that the company has completed its Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical survey at the Bronze Fox district gold-copper discovery in southern Mongolia, and will commence a significant diamond drilling program on the project in mid-May.
Ivanhoe's multi-rig drill program will initially focus on the central Bronze Fox prospect, one of several gold-rich copper porphyry targets discovered by Ivanhoe's exploration team last year. Drilling will test high-grade gold-copper-molybdenum mineralization associated with sheeted quartz veins, where a recent IP survey delineated a continuous chargeability anomaly approximately 1,500 metres long. The anomaly varies in width from 200 to 400 metres.

At least three additional targets also will be tested during this phase of diamond drilling, including a second IP anomaly which is approximately six kilometres long and situated immediately south of, and marginal to, the Bronze Fox and East Fox prospects.

The Bronze Fox discovery is approximately 140 kilometres northeast of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine development project and 430 kilometres south- southeast of Ulaanbaatar. In addition to the drilling, Ivanhoe's geological team will continue extensive prospecting and sampling of the surrounding areas.

Nariin Sukhait Coal Project

---------------------------

Mr. Kirwin also announced that two additional diamond drill rigs have been sent to the company's Nariin Sukhait coal project, where the company is conducting a resource-delineation program along the strike extensions of the operating Nariin Sukhait coal mine owned and operated by MAC, a Mongolian- Chinese joint venture company.

New Independent Resource Estimate for Hugo North Discovery and Oyu Tolgoi
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project
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Mr. Kirwin also confirmed that the new, independent resource estimate for the Hugo North Discovery and the overall Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project is expected to be completed and announced in the first week of May. The new resource estimate is being prepared by AMEC E&C Services (AMEC) of Canada, under the direction of Dr. Harry Parker, Ch. P. Geol., and Dr. Stephen Juras, P.Geo., independent qualified persons as defined by NI 43-101.

Bronze Fox Discovery

--------------------

This Bronze Fox district lies within a newly-recognized 100-kilometre- long, highly-prospective, copper-gold-porphyry belt that extends northeast from the Shuteen Project and hosts other well-preserved Late-Devonian to Early-Carboniferous mineralized porphyry and skarn systems. Ivanhoe Mines has a 100% interest in the Bronze Fox District and the majority of the ground over this belt (see location map on Ivanhoe Mines' website at http://www.ivanhoemines.com).

The Bronze Fox discovery was the result of persistent exploration efforts in Mongolia whereby systematic exploration across the extensive ground- holdings has defined a new district with highly anomalous gold-copper grades.

The Bronze Fox district comprises four gold-bearing porphyry targets: Bronze Fox, East Fox, West Fox and Tourmaline Hills. The targets are primarily defined by surface mapping, geophysics and extensive rock-chip sampling. They occur within a 14-kilometre-long corridor of alteration and mineralization that is associated with monzodiorites and granodiorites that were emplaced into a package of Devonian volcano-sedimentary rocks. The quartz veins and sericite-albite-actinolite alteration at the Bronze Fox prospect are centred on quartz-diorite porphyry dykes.

A first-pass, deep-penetrating IP survey covered 85 square kilometres and included detailed sectional work on numerous targets identified in this first phase of the survey. The IP survey has delineated a continuous chargeability anomaly over a six-kilometre strike length interpreted to represent sulphide mineralization at depth. This anomaly occurs immediately south of, and marginal to, the Bronze Fox and East Fox prospects. The IP survey also has identified several other significant geophysical targets within the Bronze Fox district which are coincident with previously identified geochemical anomalies.

Recent surface rock-chip samples from Tourmaline Hills and West Fox have now established that the two prospects may be geologically connected. High-grade gold-bearing quartz-tourmaline-sulphide veins are continuous across both prospects. Veins from this new zone returned gold assays up to 25.4 grams per tonne (g/t), with most of the assays reporting gold values above 3.0 g/t. Rock- chip sampling and mapping continues in these and other areas of the district.

Douglas Kirwin, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43- 101, supervised the preparation of the information in this release. SGS Analabs Pty. Ltd. assayed the samples at its facility in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Ivanhoe has a 100% interest in the Bronze Fox exploration project and owns 100% of the Oyu Tolgoi gold and copper mine-development project. The company owns or controls exploration rights covering approximately 130,000 square kilometres in central, southern and northeastern Mongolia. Ivanhoe produces LME grade A copper from its Monywa joint venture in Myanmar.

Ivanhoe shares are listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the symbol IVN.

TVI Pacific Inc.: News Release

Tuesday April 26, 9:04 am ET

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(CCNMatthews - April 26, 2005) - TVI Pacific Inc. (TSX:TVI - News):
- APPLICATIONS FILED FOR EXPLORATION PROPERTY RIGHTS COVERING A NEW COPPER - GOLD MINERAL DISTRICT NEAR CANATUAN MINE IN THE SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES

- APPLICATIONS COVER MORE THAN TWENTY PROSPECTIVE GOLD AND COPPER-GOLD TARGETS PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED BY OTHERS

- HEADS OF TERMS SIGNED ON PROMISING ADVANCED-STAGE GOLD EXPLORATION PROPERTY WITHIN DISTRICT

TVI is pleased to report that it has successfully completed the initial application process to obtain exploration rights covering 1,257.12 km2 of properties situated in a new mineral district located on the Zamboanga peninsula of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, approximately seventy five kilometers to the north-east of TVI's Canatuan mine. It is anticipated that close proximity to the Canatuan mine will allow for substantial synergy in the management of local issues and in cost effectively carrying out exploration work on the properties. The new Zamboanga applications reflect TVI's renewed interest in exploration in the Philippines, due mainly to improved confidence in the investment climate under the Arroyo Administration.

The mineral district is extensive, but under-explored, as modern exploration techniques were not applied until the mid 1990's, when the area was explored by a major international mining organization, that applied for the lands in 1996, coincident with a period of increased foreign investor activity in the Philippines minerals sector. TVI understands that this work identified a number of high-quality prospects for further evaluation. However, further work was never undertaken, as the tenement applicant (along with many others) withdrew its applications when uncertainty developed in the local minerals industry (concerning the constitutional legality of the 1995 Mining Act). The recent Philippines Supreme Court decision, which declared with finality that Republic Act no. 7942, the Mining Act of 1995, is constitutional, has addressed that concern.

TVI's applications cover almost all of the targets identified by the prior exploration program, numbering at least twenty epithermal gold and porphyry copper-gold prospects. Epithermal gold and porphyry-style copper-gold mineralization has been reported at the surface in the prospect areas, and the presence of significant grades is suggested by many small-scale mining operations and gold-rush areas within the lands to which the applications relate. The gold and copper-gold mineralization that has been reported appears to be related to a deep-seated major regional structure. TVI understands that none of the targets have been drill-tested.

Management of TVI believes the properties represent a compelling exploration opportunity for a number of reasons, including the following information concerning two of the properties: (These, and the other targets, are located on a map to be found on our website (http://www.tvipacific.com).)

- Bon-Bon was first discovered during a gold rush in 1995 - 1996. Work undertaken by the major international mining organization (the previous tenement applicant) identified a highly anomalous area extending over five by four kilometers with consistently elevated values of gold reported in drainage samples. Follow-up work located alteration in association with the gold extending over a zone 10km in length and 1.5 - 2km wide.

- There are a series of prospects within an area of approximately fifty square kilometers, peripheral to a number of diorite-dacite bodies that are anticipated to be of porphyry affinity. At Guitran-Dumingag, encouraging copper and gold values were reported in dacitic wallrock in a tunnel, and veins in the same tunnel were reported to carry gold. At Lipawan-Dumingag massive copper sulphides were mined in the 1970s, and the float of skarn mineralization assayed copper and gold values at Salvador-Likabang.

TVI is aware of many of the grades and intercepts returned by the previous exploration sampling, but intends to independently confirm these before reporting specific widths and values.

One of TVI's main objectives in the Philippines is to secure and develop a new deposit that will become its second producer, complementing the Canatuan Mine. To meet this objective, TVI has re-established its exploration program and is evaluating properties with the goal of making a suitable acquisition. This program complements exploration activities in China, where TVI has an active exploration team.

A potential second producing mine could conceivably lie within or adjacent to the lands recently applied for. Exploration activity undertaken by the major international mining organization (the previous tenement applicant) in the mid 1990's stimulated local interest with the result that a number of applications covering prospects of interest were filed by local groups and individuals. Some of these prospects are of interest to TVI. For example, the Balabag prospect, an advanced-stage gold exploration property, which is covered by an issued Mineral Production Sharing Agreement ("MPSA"), covers an extensive area of gold mineralization, measuring approximately one kilometer by 300 meters, from which prior sampling of small-scale workings identified a discreet zone with bonanza grades. TVI recently signed a binding Heads of Terms with the owner regarding the acquisition of the MPSA rights, and expects to sign an acquisition agreement shortly.

Clifford M. James, TVI's President, stated that "the recent tenement application filings covering the new mineral district, which have been accepted by the Philippine government agency responsible for such filings, and the signing of the Heads of Terms on the advanced-stage Balabag exploration property, are exciting new developments for TVI. We're most anxious to sign the acquisition agreement and begin work on the property as soon as possible."

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.

The tenement application process requires informing the general public, and the occupants of the lands under application, of TVI's intent to explore for minerals. This is done through the media, and government agencies. Concurrent with these activities, consultative meetings will be undertaken to obtain free and prior informed consent from the indigenous people. It may take as long as six months to formalize the consent to explore, however TVI is confident this will be achieved, particularly as the indigenous people are from the same tribe as those present around the company's operations at Canatuan with whom TVI has an excellent relationship. With the local peoples' consent, non-invasive exploration will simultaneously be undertaken while final authorizations are being obtained.

Also wenn man mich sperren sollte dann komme ich vielleicht bei der Hintertuer als BIN ADABEI wieder rein

Shacks 'stolen' by cops

26/04/2005 13:38

Johannesburg - Twenty-seven by-law enforcement officers of Johannesburg's metro police department (JMPD) were arrested for theft on Tuesday after they allegedly demolished three shacks and sold them to a scrap metal dealer.
JMPD spokesperson Edna Mamonyane said the group, all men, had gone to Diepkloof Zone 6 where they allegedly took a public telephone booth and left it at the department's Wemmer Complex, on the corner of Loveday street and Village road.

Afterwards they left for an informal settlement in Lawley, south east of the city, and allegedly demolished three shacks and returned to the complex with the corrugated iron.

The group is accused of proceeding to a scrap dealer in Industria where they were paid a cheque of R1 181 and, after cashing the cheque, split the money getting about R40 each, Mamonyane said.

The whistleblowers were two colleagues who had been left behind and had not shared in the money, Mamonyane said.

A six-day internal investigation began and the 27 were arrested by their own colleagues and face charges of theft.

Mamonyane said they were taken to the Johannesburg Central police station mid morning on Tuesday "in a big truck".

It was not clear if they would appear in court on Tuesday.

A departmental regulation forbids them from being put into a police cell or appearing in court in uniform.

"Their relatives will have to bring them something else to wear," she said.

The shack did not have possessions in it at the time it was demolished.

The people arrested were part of a team who focused purely on by-law enforcement, she explained. They wore blue uniforms and were separate from traffic officials.

They earned about R3 000 a month.

The telephone booth was still at the Wemmer Complex.

News24/SAPA

Weak rand gain to turn to pain

26/04/2005 15:14

Johannesburg - A weak rand would give a short-term boost to consumers and economic growth, but would ultimately lead to long-term pain, according to Absa.
"A rand targeting scenario looks set to mildly benefit the overall consumer picture in the initial stages of the change to such a strategy.

"This is because, unlike 1997/1998, a weaker rand will take place in conjunction with lower interest rates, providing significant stimulus to credit demand as well as economic and disposable income growth," Absa consumer markets analyst John Loos said in a research note.

Loos has simulated a weaker rand due to market speculation recently that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is perhaps shifting towards some sort of rand targeting, aimed at weakening the currency.

This speculation arises from the surprise April 50 basis point interest rate cut, and may be fuelled further by reports of a Tripartite Alliance meeting at the weekend in which the issue of the rand's strength was discussed.

"While everything merely amounts to speculation at present, and I am not predicting an abolition of inflation targeting, the debate exists and its potential impacts cannot be ignored.

"I therefore asked the question as to what the impacts may be on consumer markets should this shift indeed be taking place," Loos wrote.

In the period 1997 to 1998, when emerging markets had lost much of their appeal and the rand had been under severe pressure (in 1996 and then again in 1998 real household consumption expenditure growth measured 3.3% and 1.7% per annum for the 2 respective years, while exports fared significantly better at 5.6% and 4.6% for the two respective years.

By design

Currently, the reverse seems to apply, with real export growth for 2004 having grown by 2.9%, and real household consumption by a massive 6.1%.

The return of a weaker rand, through deliberate policy design, however, would not necessarily be negative for the consumer and the retailer.

Interest rate cuts would be utilised in an attempt to weaken the currency (as opposed to interest rate hikes to support the currency as in the late-1990s), along with higher levels of SARB intervention in the foreign exchange market.

Therefore, while consumer product price inflation could be higher due to a weaker currency, the demand stimulus from lower interest rates and the effect that the rand would have in channelling demand more towards locally produced products (with imported goods being more costly) would stimulate short term real economic growth, employment and disposable income growth.

Consumption would thus receive support not only from cheaper credit, but also from stronger income growth.

Loos said however that moving past 2006 into the longer term, a few cautions must be issued.

Firstly, the positive impact of the weaker rand is only a temporary one. Higher inflation in the rand target scenario compared with the baseline scenario implies that domestic cost structures will rise at a faster rate, ultimately leading to a recovery in the real value of the rand.

Secondly, unless the SARB decides to abolish its inflation target, higher inflation as in the rand target case should ultimately imply a tighter interest rate policy as opposed to the base case.

This situation may only arise beyond 2006 but it would ultimately have to come, and would then prove to be a bigger negative factor for the consumer in outer years. Therefore, it could be a minor case of short-term gain for long-term pain.

News24/I-Net Bridge (Business)

So kurz vor dem Verkaufssignal ?

Man sollte eigentlich noch mehr kaufen

Tschonko

Ich haette besser alle beide beim Uebernahmeversuch im Oktober verkaufen sollen! Aber hinterher ist man immer schlauer.

Solange der Rand unter 6.50 ist mache ich gar nichts und konzentriere mich auf andere.
Es ist so und so zu spaet auszusteigen denn beide schauen so aus wie ein golden eagle.

Harmony ist jetzt bei 4.93 Euro 8o, kann schon sein das sie auf die 4 Euro fallen.

XEX

Nick Goodwin, gold analyst at T-Sec
By: Alec Hogg
Posted: '26-APR-05 10:22' GMT © Mineweb 1997-2004

MINEWEB: Let’s bring Nick Goodwin from T-Sec, our gold guru, in now. Nick, we had quarterly results to the end of March from Harmony. One doesn’t know what to believe from Harmony nowadays. I say this with some circumspection, because those numbers, pshew, they’re now doing a Nedcor trick almost. It's not only the full results. David, you’re nodding your head here. They now talk about quality ounces, growth projects, leveraged ounces. My word, the last time we saw this kind of fudging of the numbers was with Nedcor. Do you agree, Nick?

NICK GOODWIN: Well, basically yes. You just have to decipher it all. They grouped the various mines together, and you have to go back and obviously group the mines going back a year or so.

MINEWEB: But I thought the whole point of putting all the mines together was that you would stabilise all these different impacts. Otherwise why not just list the operations separately?

NICK GOODWIN: Yes, I prefer that, to actually see each operation listed so we can see what’s actually happening there, because you’ve now got mines in the Free State listed with mines in Evander, listed with mines on the West Rand, and so on. And it makes it quite complicated. But you can unravel all this if you just look at the cash flow situation, and unfortunately the cash flow situation is not very good in this quarter. Last quarter they had a net cash outflow of R274m, and this quarter it's R533m.

MINEWEB: R533m in cash? That’s half a billion rand in three months!

NICK GOODWIN: Yes that’s correct.

MINEWEB: Where are they going to get the cash to replace it with?

NICK GOODWIN: Well, look, they sold their interest in ARM which will give R1.2bn So that will see them right for a while. They are desperately trying to get their costs down, so they will be about the R75,000/kg area. They say they’ll do it later this year. It's currently at R86,000/kg, which is above the gold price, in fact, So this quarter unfortunately at the gold profit level they actually had a negative margin there.

MINEWEB: So that’s why they’re trying to confuse us un-specialists. Clearly you can decipher it all Nick, but David, it was what, Nedbank?

DAVID SHAPIRO: Yes, we’ve been talking about trend analysis, and I think if you want to interpret what happened there four years ago, or five years ago, the share was at R40. In 2001 it went up to about I think R190 or R185 a little later. It's now down at R40. So if you draw the chart in your mind, I think you can get a very good idea of what this all means.

MINEWEB: And thank the Pope that you didn’t buy the shares at R105. And also, you’ve got to hand it to Mzi Khumalo – he might have got the shares in a strange way, but he certainly knew when to sell, didn’t he?

DAVID SHAPIRO: Yes.

MINEWEB: Put R1bn in his back pocket. I guess now, looking back, if Mzi had held on to the share he wouldn’t be worth too much money. I notice, Nick, though, and this was very surprising, going through the unit trust quarterlies, neither of the South African gold funds – Old Mutual or Stanlib funds – neither of them actually own any Harmony shares. Old Mutual’s got AngloGold. Even Durban Deep’s in there, Gold Fields and Western Areas. Stanlib’s got Aflease, AngloGold and Gold Fields. But no Harmony.

NICK GOODWIN: Well, look, it obviously was the right thing to have done over the last few quarters. In fact, look I know they’re specialised funds, but nobody should have had any gold shares – not for the last two years. So even the Gold Fields Harmony Bid shouldn’t have been a problem for you, because you shouldn’t have had the stock in any case. And I think that’s still the situation. I don’t know if you recall at one of your shows a few months ago I was calling Harmony down to R40, which it hit today. And I think the gold index went through some very important levels today. It's been struggling to get through on the downside of the sort of 1450 area for about seven or eight months, and today it broke through there convincingly. And now we’re going to see it slide – it's basically going to slump now, very much a type of pattern that you get near the end of a bear market. So we could see the index slumping to the 1200 area now, and then it will have a bit of a pickup to 1300 and eventually go down to 1000, which is what I’ve been speaking about for a long time. And then there’ll be some really very good bargains there, and we can see a share like Harmony being in the sort of R30 to R35 area, a share like Gold Fields sort of R40, R45, AngloGold sort of R140 and so on. Durban Deep – I think we’ve seen the worst there, and I think R4, R4.50 for Durban Deep, believe it or not, is actually a buy. But we now have to wait for the final leg of the bear market to complete itself, and then there will be some amazing bargains – like we saw in 1997, which was the pattern of the previous bear market.

MINEWEB: Well, the Harmony share price today dropped 8% to close at R40 on the dot in the post-close auction. The last trade before that was R41.36, then it traded at R40, and then it closed at R40, exactly as Nick Goodwin had to say. He’s been spot on so far – I’m sure that you should take his advice right now.

Petzi

Bloede Sprueche gibts auf bloede Fragen !

valueman

Ich war so schlau und habe nichts umgetauscht.
Ich galube auch nicht das HMY ihre GFI trumpfkarte so schnell verkauft.
Weiss jemand wann die quarterly zahlen von GFI kommen ?
Dann kann man Aepfel mit Aepfel vergleichen. (saure)

XEX

yoyo

Ich freue mich darauf wenn du sie mir abkaufst
Warum muss GFI eine Swanepoelfahrt machen ??

gruss

XEX

Monday, April 25, 2005, 8:12:00 PM EST

Gold and Dollar Market Summary

Author: Jim Sinclair

Dear CIGA:

When considering any position, please keep in mind the following words of Paul Volcker, past Chairman of the Federal Reserve, which were recently reported in the Washington Post: “I don’t know whether change will come with a bang or a whimper, whether sooner or later. But as things stand, it is more likely than not that it will be financial crises rather than policy foresight that will force the change.”

So when you consider the US dollar and its modest recovery from recent lows, do you really feel comfortable buying it? When considering the gold market, do you really feel comfortable without it? The dollar rally so far is pathetic.

You will recall that I told you when cyclical analysis calls for an action and the market does not provide it, a strong message is delivered. If the action called for is significantly bullish and that fails to occur then the market is much weaker than anyone realizes at that time. This could easily turn out to be the message that the US dollar is now delivering to its supporters.

The madness of the many is now taking the form of the new argument of who has stagflated the most. What total nonsense! Do you really believe in today’s interrelated economic world that anyone will escape the impact of Bernanke’s massive liquidity injection into the global economy and its impact on prices? Everybody is going to feel this one. Do you really believe that China’s economy is an internal affair and is not based upon world demand for the goods it produces? Do you think that Euroland is going to be more stagflated than the US?

Gold no longer 'the economy' in SA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The shrinking importance of the gold-mining industry to the South African economy and world production, meant that domestic gold-miners had to accept that policymakers could no longer base their decisions on the fortunes of the industry, Harmony Gold CEO Bernard Swanepoel said yesterday.

Speaking after the release of poor results for the March quarter - which saw the company report a cash-operating loss of R55-million and a net loss, after a R1,5-billion impairment of fixed assets, of R1,6-billion - Swanepoel said that the industry needed to adjust to the fact that gold-mining was no longer 'the economy' in South Africa and that the country no longer had a major influence on the world gold industry.

South Africa's production had fallen steadily from its 1 000 t peak in the early 1970s when it produced about 70% of world production. In 2004, output fell a further eight per cent to 342,7 t, its lowest level since 1931, and contributed only 12% to world production. The most recent decline had come on the back of a falling rand-gold price as the local currency recovered strongly and rising utility, input and labour costs.

He said that the context required a serious rethink about the need for consolidation, which he claimed would be one of the 'obvious remedies'. The statement follows the weekend meeting of the ANC-led tripartite Alliance, where it was resolved that South Africa should seek to support the export economy through a 'competitive exchange rate', but it was unclear what further monetary policy interventions could be taken, particularly given that the Reserve Bank had only recently lowered interest rates.

Swanepoel argued that companies were forced to take steps to safeguard their future in a far lower average rand-gold price environment, and said that Harmony was far closer to the end of its 'bitter' restructuring phase than to the start.

Nonetheless, he again lamented the fact that consolidation had become a 'swear word' domestically, blaming this attitude on hostilities around Harmony's bid for Gold Fields. He suggested that, in another context, industry stakeholders would rallying behind the concept. However, he also dismissed Gold Fields CEO Ian Cockerill's call for 'cooperation' rather than consolidation, arguing that there was little evidence that such arrangements would work in the South African environment.

But Swanepoel indicated that the end was in sight for the protracted battle, suggesting, too, that it he was less convinced that Harmony would need to extend it irrevocable undertaking of support from Norilsk Nickel of Russia - Norilk's support will expire on May 20, but the deal would only go unconditional in about mid-May, once the Competition Tribunal hearing, scheduled for May 3 to 6, had been finalised.

“If the merger is not approved, which we believe is unlikely, then the deal is off. But if it is approved, the offer becomes unconditional and available for Gold Fields shareholders to decide,” Swanepoel said, adding, sarcastically, that it would be 'more democratic' in accepting the will of the Gold Fields shareholders.

He lamented the legal costs associated with the bid, revealing that fees were expected to total R58-million 8ofor Harmony alone, and admitting that the company had only budgeted R8-million for legal costs at the start of the bid in October.

In the meantime, Harmony has accelerated its own restructuring efforts in an effort to reduce cash costs to R75 000/kg from over R85 000/kg in March. It had already downsized its employee and shaft numbers; was seeking to retrench a further 4 900 people in the Free State (a process which is being contested by the National Union of Mineworkers in court); had continued, where possible, with the roll-out of continuous operations; impaired key local operations; put several shafts on to care and maintenance at a cost of R35-million a year; and was spending capital on projects that could deliver higher-margin ounces.

The process had led to a decline in the company's production profile, which was expected to finally stabilise at around 3-million ounces a year.

Swanepoel was philosophical, though, saying that Harmony had been forced to take some “bitter medicine, the side-effects of which were definitely felt during the last quarter”. But he added that the endeavour was nearing its end and would lead to a repositioning of the company for long-term profitability.

SELLING SHORT

How it works:
Many people have never sold a stock short because it sounds confusing, dangerous and very risky at first. Actually shorting is just the opposite of buying a stock (also known as "going long"), and if done correctly, is no more risky. When you go long, you buy a stock because you think it will go up. When you sell short, you do the opposite: you sell a stock because you think it's going down.

But how can you sell a stock you don't own? No problem. Without going into excessive detail, most stocks can simply be borrowed from your broker and sold short, with the proceeds of the sale going directly into your account. After the stock falls (which you have been expecting), you buy it back, return it to your broker and say, "Here's your stock back, thanks for the loan." You keep the difference between what you sold it for, and what you bought it back for. I know it sounds bizarre, but it is perfectly legal and traders in the know do it all the time.