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

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (84404)	4/13/2002 7:16:14 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116791

This will have to do until I get more info., really tells very little except that they(AU) are trying to play "keep up with the Jones's" & the Jones's are 'NEM': Wed Apr 10, 2002 2:23 pm Subject: AngloGold says it reduces hedges "aggressively," and gold jumps NEW YORK, April 10 (Reuters) -- COMEX gold jumped on Wednesday, recovering from early profit taking after top-tier South African producer AngloGold Ltd. said it was "aggressively" running down its hedge book. Though the company gave no details, saying only that it was taking advantage of market conditions, June gold accelerated a mild morning bounce back above the $300 an ounce level around which it has consolidated recent gains all week. The active contract ended up $3, or 1 percent, at $302.50, trading from $298.10 to $302.90. Estimated volume was a moderate 31,000 contracts. "`That last thrust up to $302.90 was all on the back of that. They came out, and I guess it was the way they phrased it," said a floor broker. Spot gold was quoted at $301.00/50, up from the close Tuesday at $298.10/60. The afternoon London fix was $298. The trend toward reduced selling by gold companies has been bullish for gold this year. The tone was set by U.S.-based Newmont Mining, after it bought Australia's Normandy Mining, became the world's largest producer, and pledged to unwind Normandy's large hedge book and avoid all hedging. Producers hedge by selling their output forward to lock in prices and protect themselves against falls in the market. But it can work against their interests because heavy hedging activity can prevent the price of gold from rising. "We haven't changed our hedging policy per se, but market conditions at the moment dictate that we are running down our hedge book and we have been for a little while," AngloGold Financial Director Jonathan Best told Reuters. AngloGold closed 1.7 million ounces in its hedge book in the last quarter of 2001, leaving it with a hedge book of 14.6 million ounces. Best said the company was reducing its book because it was more bullish on the gold price and because U.S. interest rates are low, raising the cost of carrying short gold positions. "We did move up and saw some technical buying once we broke over $300.50 on June and yesterday's high, which was around $300.80," said Donald Eckert, global bullion risk manager at JP Morgan Chase. Other dealers saw stop-loss buying all the way up. Gold was also supported by firming oil prices and underlying interest in the precious metals as portfolio protection in case a broader war breaks out in the Middle East. June gold rose to $308 a week ago, its highest since two-year highs were reached in February. But gains this week were tougher won because speculators were already loaded up, holding a net 37,000 contracts (115 tonnes) last week. Israel said it would press ahead with its 12-day-old military offensive in the West Bank following a suicide bombing that killed eight Israelis on a bus in Haifa on Wednesday. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon said Wednesday that the United States should not put pressure on Israel to stop its military offensive in the West Bank. The United States has demanded that Israel withdraw its forces as Secretary of State Colin Powell visits angry Arab leaders on his way to Israel later this week to try to broker a cease-fire. COMEX May silver shot up 7.0 cents to close at $4.628 an ounce, having moved from $4.53 to $4.645. Spot silver closed at $4.62/63, up from $4.54/56 late Tuesday. It fixed at $4.555. "Silver just basically came along for the ride," said Leonard Kaplan, president of Prospector Asset Management.

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (84404)	4/30/2002 9:08:34 PM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116791

Update. re: your requested AU hedge info - yes, they have been unwinding - some AngloGold Results For The Quarter Ended March 31, 2002 NEW YORK, NY, Apr 30, 2002 (INTERNET WIRE via COMTEX) -- AngloGold (NYSE: AU) today announced earnings results for the first quarter 2002. Highlights include: - Operating profit from current operations (excluding the Free State assets) including realized non-hedge derivatives increases by 7.3% to $147 million or R1.7 billion. This represents a cash operating profit of $197 million or R2.3 billion. - Total cash costs for current operations down to $151/oz. - Record cash operating margin of 47% ($136/oz), up 13% from December quarter - Headline earnings - before unrealized non-hedge derivatives - up 1% to $89 million - Return on equity and capital employed of 23% and 16% respectively - Average gold spot price for the quarter of $287/oz, the highest since December 1999. - Hedge book reduced by further 1.7Moz (or 120% of this quarter's production) Commenting on the quarter's results, CEO Bobby Godsell said: "The significant feature of the quarter for AngloGold was its record cash operating margin of 47% or $136 per ounce, up 13% from the December quarter. The operating profit from our current assets (that is, excluding the Free State operations), including realized gains from non-hedge derivatives, increased by 7.3% to $147 million (or R1.7 billion) and our cash costs for these assets came down 2% to $151 per ounce. "While compared with the last quarter of 2001, AngloGold's production reduced by some 340,000 ounces (of which some 300,000 are attributable to the sale of our high-cost, short-life assets in the Free State) to 1.4 million ounces, we are reporting headline earnings, before unrealized non-hedge derivates, of $89 million - up 1% in dollar terms and 11% in rand terms to R1.03 billion. In comparison with the first quarter of 2001, earnings have increased by 60% in dollar terms and 134% in local currency. "The additional 3.2 million AngloGold ordinary shares in issue following our Normandy bid, have the effect of reducing our headline earnings (before unrealized non-hedge derivates) per share by a modest 1% down to 81 US cents per share, and of raising $158 million worth of capital. Comparing this with the first quarter of 2001, headline earnings before unrealized non-hedge derivatives per share have improved by 56%." In respect of the gold market and the AngloGold hedging strategy, Godsell observed: "In the context of the firmer price, we have continued to actively manage our hedge book and increase exposure to the spot price. In this quarter we have reduced the book by a further 1.7 million ounces (or 120% of this quarter's production), and we have also eliminated the low-price rand gold forward contracts in the book for the remainder of this year. Whereas at December 31, 2001 we had 60% of our forecast 2002 gold production sold forward, today we have only 32% of the remainder of this year's anticipated production sold forward. "Our position at AngloGold continues to be informed by our resolve to manage our revenue risk in order to ensure that we are not at the mercy of the gold price, while at the same time ensuring that we are reasonably leveraged to a rising price. Over the past ten years, of which the last six have seen a largely declining price, this company's carefully managed forward sales program has added some $1.2 billion to our bottom line. In a changing price environment, the structure of our book is being judiciously risk-adjusted to reflect the new reality." Turning to AngloGold's strategic objectives, he noted: "We will continue to leverage off existing assets and drive the company down the cost curve. All five of our organic growth projects - a key component of our ongoing strategy to grow the earnings stream of AngloGold - remain on track and within budget. Our brownfields and greenfields exploration has yielded promising results, particularly at Geita, Sadiola, Sunrise Dam, Red Lake in Canada and La Rescatada in Peru." For a full copy of the quarterly results, please visit the AngloGold website: www.anglogold.com. For further questions, please contact Charles Carter - VP for Investor Relations at (800) 417-9255 or ccarter@anglogold.com. Disclaimer for the historical information contained herein, there are matters discussed in this news release that are forward-looking statements. Such statements are only predictions and actual events or results may differ materially. For a discussion of important factors including, but not limited to, development of the Company's business, the economic outlook in the gold mining industry, expectations regarding gold prices and production, and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, refer to the Company's annual report on the Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2000 which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 23 April 2001. CONTACT: Charles Carter North American investor relations AngloGold 800-417-9255