BTW, you & I spoke about hedge positions some time ago & I asserted that some producers had reduced overall hedged position. As AU has increased reserves so greatly & has also reduced hedge position, is this not a double hit in the correct direction? I agree, we have a long way to go yet, but there is now movement in the overall correct direction.
ANGLOGOLD HEDGE POSITIONS
Date: Thursday, February 10, 2000
In mid-1999, the company took a correct view that gold had been oversold, and announced publicly its decision to remain out of the forward market and to avoid further selling into an oversold market.
The net hedge position of the company of 418 042 kilograms priced forward at the end of 1999 was some 10 tonnes lower than the position at the end of the third quarter.
In 2000, we intend to continue to deliver into our hedge, and this is likely to mean lower levels of hedge cover going forward. The company’s price hedges today represent cover for 11% of the reserves of the company, and less than two years of production, spread out as shown in the attached hedge summary. For the year 2000, the company has in place price cover for half of production, with the balance of gold production of over 100 tonnes or 3.5 million ounces fully leveraged to the spot gold price. |
