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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (57956)	9/8/2000 9:45:29 AM
From: lorne	Respond to of 116759

Placer shares up on rumours of Barrick bid Newmont also mentioned: Surge in copper price helping to fuel speculation September 8, 2000 John Schreiner Financial Post VANCOUVER - Shares of Placer Dome Inc. rose 90¢ yesterday to $15.10 on a heavy volume of 7.5 million on street rumours that Barrick Gold Corp. may launch a takeover bid. Neither Barrick nor Placer Dome would confirm that. "Our policy is never to comment on rumours or speculation or idle gossip in the market," said Vince Borg, Barrick's vice-president of corporate communications. "We don't have anything material to report," Placer Dome spokeswoman Megan Brown said. "We suspect it may be due to ongoing rumours about consolidation in the industry, but we are not aware of anything coming down the pike." One analyst in Toronto, who asked not to be named, said he had picked up a rumour that Barrick is expected to offer .75 of a Barrick share for each Placer Dome share. The analyst thought this unlikely because it would represent a substantial premium and because Barrick shareholders would be angered at the dilution. Barrick shares closed at $23.65 yesterday, down 65¢, on a volume of 2.4 million. In Vancouver, Haytham Hodaly, a mining analyst at Salman Partners Inc., agreed that expectations of more consolidation in the gold industry are the likely reason for the rise in the stock. But he also offered another explanation: the recent strong surge in the copper price. Placer Dome's copper production -- 267 million pounds last year -- is taking a big jump this year because the company acquired the other 50% of its big Zaldivar mine in Chile, a major copper producer. "They've got excellent production come out of a copper mine of which they own 100% now and copper's performing," he said. There have already been several major mergers this year among gold companies, including Newmont Mining Corp. taking over Battle Mountain and Gold Fields Ltd. of South Africa taking over Franco-Nevada Mining Corp. The Toronto analyst said he would not rule out a bid for Placer Dome from a major other than Barrick. He noted Newmont is a major producer in Nevada where Placer Dome's Cortez mine is located. "Cortez is a great mine," he said. Placer shares have had a 52-week range of $26 -- $11.20, with the low occurring in late March. This summer, six analysts, including Mr. Hodaly, have issued buy recommendations on the stock. Mr. Hodaly's target price is $17.50. "We believe we're one of the best values out there," Placer Dome's Ms. Brown said. She speculated that the sudden increase in volume could reflect institutional buying. nationalpost.com