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To: John Lacelle who wrote (14145)	7/6/1998 11:12:00 AM
From: tekgk	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116764

I am not sure about how good a hedge gold is these days, but I am sure that it is insurance for a large scale disaster. What will happen to US debt paper if some lunatic sets off one of the Russian suitcase sized bombs in DC or NY? How about a once a century sized earthquake in San Francisco or LA? What is the probability or something like this? I don't know, but, I feel that it's like house insurance - pray you never need it. Maintaining some sort of coverage is probably wise.

To: John Lacelle who wrote (14145)	7/6/1998 7:20:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

>>>What makes you (or anyone) believe that gold is still a good hedge? Last year, many countries actually sold off a good portion of their gold. >>> John, this is a very complicated topic...This thread devoted many, many posts to this..Allow me a fairly brief answer.. Gold was sold by some countries in Europe (notably Belgium and probably by Dutch to qulify for EMU membership (stringent budget guidlines) Australia sold its gold for not well understood reasons and that single event combined with Bre-X started a collapse in POG/mining industry. Result: A $ hit rock bottom against both Dollar and Gold with severe consequences to Australian Economy (partially due to Asian crisis, but undoubtedly exacerbated by Gold sale) Now the biggest reserves in the World are in US Dollars not gold-what would happen to those CB's and respective countries when either Dollar value would drop/collapse or simply Dollar goes for sale (just like Gold -and believe me many countries like Japan/China have a lot of reason to sell US Dollar....Either for commodities or just food.. If/When Dollar goes down..What would bring Dollar down... How about Yen over 170-200 with China devaluing yuan, trade deficit engulfing USA in a disastrous protection... How about tensions on USA street between peoples ala Bosnia when/if unemployment explodes...Paper (any paper) would help you?... And that for starters many more mandane reasons to look at the commodity with great supply/demand fundamentals that are getting better with each month that another project (exploration/mining is shelved...

To: John Lacelle who wrote (14145)	7/6/1998 7:38:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116764

FEATURE-Euro debut may make yen a speculative tool 03:17 a.m. Jul 06, 1998 Eastern By Tatsuo Ito TOKYO, July 6 (Reuters) - As if recent wild fluctuations were not enough, Japan may be faced with a period of speculative assaults on the yen once Europe launches a single, stable and strong currency next year. Whether this can be avoided depends on whether Tokyo can revive its sagging economy by boosting domestic demand and decisively restructuring its banking sector, analysts say. If Japan fails to resolve these problems, the yen could remain erratic and fall victim to speculative attacks from dealers around the globe, hungry for trading tools after the birth of the European single currency in January 1999. ''If Japan mishandles its steps toward a transparent financial system, it risks reducing the yen to a rustic currency,'' said Noriyuki Takano, assistant director of Global Money Markets and Foreign Exchange at Barclays Bank in Tokyo. ''As the German mark came under speculative attack in the 1980s, it's possible the yen will become a currency for speculation,'' Takano added. YEN'S VOLATILITY RISING For the past seven years, the swing in the value of the yen against the dollar has averaged about 18 yen each year. But fluctuations in the first half of 1998 have already topped that. The yen fluctuated more than 24 yen against the dollar after it hit an eight-year high of 146.75 yen in June from this year's low of 122.40 yen set in February. Meanwhile, trade between the German mark and the currencies of other Euro member states are already facing a dearth of liquidity and volatility. For instance, one-month options volatility of mark/French franc hovered at around 0.5 percent while that of dollar/yen stood at around 18 percent, options dealers said. The main cause for wild movements for the yen is failed government policies that have aggravated the economy's condition, they said. A REFUGE FOR EUROPEAN TRADERS Barclays' Takano said another factor making the yen volatile was European traders flocking to the yen. European traders whose very jobs are threatened by the introduction of the single currency are trying to find a way to survive through yen-related transactions. ''European traders are now being put to the test at their banks to raise profits through yen-related trade,'' Takano said. This was also responsible for the recent wild movements of the yen overseas, a factor which is making it tougher for Japanese monetary authorities to manage the yen, he added. Ryousuke Tsuji, senior vice president of the forex department at Societe Generale in Tokyo said: ''For traders and speculators, it is quite understandable to scramble for a currency with a greater volatility.'' ''But the lack of attractive investment tools in Japan and big currency risks have kept long-term overseas investors at bay (away from the yen),'' he said. The absence of solid capital flow into the yen and a sluggish economy in Japan have prevented the yen from becoming an international currency, traders said. FOCUS RETURNS TO TRADE SURPLUS, BUT THIS TIME WITH EU Some traders said the yen may eventually come under political pressure over trade issues with the European Union (EU) as it did with the United States in the past. Economists and traders said the EU, which accounts for one third of world trade and 35 percent of the total gross domestic product of OECD countries, could exert a greater and united influence on its external trade policy. Kenji Yumoto, senior economist at Japan Research Institute, said the time when Japan only focused on the United States in terms of trade policy is over. Japan will be forced to carry out its trade policy by taking the EU into greater account than it does now, he added. Trade surplus with the EU nations has been rising at a greater pace than that with the United States. According to Japanese finance ministry data, Japan's merchandise trade surplus with the EU stood at 2.97 trillion yen ($21 billion) at the end of March 1998, up 109 percent from a year ago. The surplus with the United States accounted for 5.42 trillion yen, up 44 percent from a year earlier. EU BECOMES BIGGER INFLUENCE ON JAPAN POLICY ''They (EU nations) will sound a warning if Japan keeps exporting to Europe in a bid to make up for a fall in its export to Asian nations while neglecting its efforts to stimulate the domestic economy,'' Yumoto said. Hans Friedrich Beseler, senior trade negotiator for the European Commission, made this clear in Tokyo in June. ''Clearly, relying on export growth alone to restore the Japanese economy would not be a politically or economically sustainable policy,'' Beseler said. The key to restoring the health of the Japanese economy is to create a climate for expanding domestic demand, he said. One way to do this would be to support a stronger yen, which would make Japanese exports less competitive overseas while making imports into Japan cheaper. In the past, markets have targeted the dollar/yen rate because of the political pressures surrounding the trade imbalance between Japan and the United States. Economists said since the EU is running a high trade surplus and enjoying a brisk economic recovery, however, it is unlikely to apply such pressures on Japan in the near future. But some currency traders said European nations may become more sensitive to the euro/yen exchange rate once the euro starts. ''European nations, particularly Germany, have not been concerned about their exchange rate against the yen. But there may be a shift in such a stance once the euro starts,'' said a senior currency trader at a French bank in Tokyo. ''This will make it tougher for Japan to manage its currency policy,'' he added. ($1-140 yen) ((Tokyo Treasury Desk +81-3 3432 1396 tokyo.newsroom+reuters.com))

To: John Lacelle who wrote (14145)	7/6/1998 9:42:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

FEATURE-Intervention policy seen key to euro/dlr balance 01:32 a.m. Jul 06, 1998 Eastern By Yoshiko Mori TOKYO, July 6 (Reuters) - What if the euro keeps rising after its launch, leaving the dollar far behind? Such a scenario is quietly feared in Washington, and how the European Central Bank (ECB) copes if it comes true will be the first test of the new bank's credibility and the prospects for the euro, Japanese officials and analysts say. WHO INTERVENES IF MASSIVE CAPITAL SHIFT TO EURO? A growing market consensus says the euro will strengthen early in its life, prompted by a global flow of capital into Europe and away from the U.S. dollar, traders say. Former U.S. presidential economic advisor Fred Bergsten has repeatedly said the euro will almost certainly become a major international currency, boosted by substantial portfolio diversification even in its early years. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William McDonough said last month: ''We've heard that some investors have already begun to switch some of their portfolios from a dollar-denominated one into either a mark- or ECU-denominated one.'' The key question is which of the two -- the ECB or the US Federal Reserve -- would intervene to moderate a euro rise if world capital kept favouring Europe's single currency. ''I don't think the ECB would be naive enough to check the strength of its own currency,'' Masao Suzaki, professor of economics at Tokyo's Senshu University. The ECB, in line with global forex market practice, would be likely to tell the U.S. Treasury and the Fed that the nation with the falling currency should act to defend it, Suzaki said. ECB EXPECTED TO INHERIT BUBA'S POLICY The market is also betting the ECB will inherit the intervention policy of the Bundesbank, which is seen as regarding the strength of the mark as a symbol of its power. ''If the ECB justified a euro selling intervention with the simple argument that a cheap dollar could cause recession in Europe, it would, in fact, spook the markets,'' said Takeshi Hanai, executive manager of the Industrial Bank of Japan's International Treasury Dept. A strong euro would contain inflation, while undermining the global competitiveness of products made by EMU members. But ECB President Wim Duisenberg said at his confirmation hearing at the European Parliament in May that the future impact of exchange rate changes on the European economy would be much less significant than it is at present. Trade with countries outside the EMU was seen as accounting for only around 10 percent of total trade by member countries, he said. The ECB also has the right to refuse to intervene in the forex market, defying any calls to do so from politicians, if such intervention would risk stoking inflation. ''The euro is like a huge aircraft carrier, as opposed to a group of destroyers. Any quick, nervous moves in the forex market are quite unlikely,'' Hanai of IBJ said. JAPAN'S CRITICAL MISTAKE IN INTERVENTION POLICY When it comes to intervention policy, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) offers a lesson in what not to do, analysts say. ''The worst policy mistake Japan's monetary authorities have ever made in their intervention history was let themselves be responsible for defending the dollar when it fell relentlessly in 1995,'' Suzaki said. The dollar hit a post-war low of 79.75 yen and fell to 1.3450 marks in mid-1995. The BOJ then bought massive amounts of dollars for yen to stop the U.S currency's freefall. ''There was no justification for Tokyo to defend the dollar at its own cost when the huge U.S. current account deficit was then a major factor in the dollar's weakness,'' Suzaki said. This role reversal between Tokyo and Washington was one reason the BOJ had struggled to retain market credibility as it tried to defend the falling yen in recent months, he added. It was only when the United States joined forces to intervene after the dollar hit an eight-year high of 146.75 in June that the yen recouped some of its dramatic losses. U.S. FOREX WAR CHEST MAY NOT BE ENOUGH Yet analysts point out that the United States may not have a big enough war chest of foreign reserves to defend the dollar in the event the euro overwhelms the U.S. currency. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said the Federal Reserve System had $11.48 billion worth of marks in foreign exchange reserves at the start of 1998, while the U.S. Treasury Exchange Stabilisation Fund had $5.81 billion worth of marks. U.S. external reserves of $70.33 billion are ranked only the world's seventh largest, after those of Singapore and Hong Kong. ''The next time a dollar crisis hits, the dollar will be forced to give up its status as a key currency,'' said one fund manager at a private asset management firm. Analysts said the reason the United States -- the world's largest debtor -- had so far avoided the kind of debt crisis suffered by Asia and Latin America was because foreigners were willing to hold on to debt in the world's leading currency. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has said the cost to Washington of funding U.S. government debt is reduced by $10 billion to $15 billion each year because foreigners are willing to hold large amounts of dollar debt. U.S. DEBTS THREATEN DOLLAR'S GLOBAL STATUS Former presidential advisor Bergsten has forecast the net debtor position of the United States, which has already passed $1 trillion, will shortly exceed $1.5 trillion. In its annual report released in June, the Bank for International Settlements said: ''the BIS is concerned that the markets will lose patience with the accumulation of U.S. external debt and drive the dollar sharply lower.'' Analysts say the launch of the euro may trigger a reversal in the dollar's current strength to reflect huge U.S. debts. But it could also spur the United States into taking action on its economic fundamentals. ''The advent of the euro could motivate the United States to tighten its fiscal discipline and to refrain from depending so much on foreign capital,'' a senior BOJ official told Reuters. Kosuke Nakahira, an advisor to the Institute for International Economic Studies, said the U.S. current account deficit was unlikely to dethrone the dollar from its key currency position overnight. But the euro would certainly lighten the global responsibility the United States currently bore, a burden perhaps heavier than was warrented by the nation's economic power, said Nakahira, a former Japanese vice finance minister for international affairs. ((Tokyo Treasury Desk (813) 3432-8676 tokyo.newsroom+reuters.com))

To: John Lacelle who wrote (14145)	9/8/2001 11:38:48 AM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116764

Yatela Gold Mine officially opens Date: Saturday, September 08, 2001 SPEECH BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER SUSAN SHABANGU, DEPARTMENT OF MINERALS AND ENERGY, SOUTH AFRICA SPEECH BY BOBBY GODSELL, CEO AND CHAIRMAN ANGLOGOLD LIMITED SPEECH BY CLAUDE BARJOT, VICE-PRESIDENT, AFRICAN AFFAIRS FOR IAMGOLD Markham, Ontario/Johannesburg, South Africa, September 8, 2001—IAMGOLD Corporation (TSE: IMG) and AngloGold Limited (NYSE: ADR JSE:ANGGOLD) are pleased to announce the official opening of the Yatela Gold Mine today (Saturday 8 September 2001), at which Mr Aboubacary Coulibary, Minister of Mines, Mali, was the guest of honour. The Yatela Gold Mine is a joint-venture between AngloGold (40%), IAMGOLD (40%) and the Mali Government (20%). Remarking on the joint venture partners during his address at the opening ceremony, Minister Coulibary said, “Your (AngloGold and IAMGOLD) presence demonstrates your commitment and the importance that you have placed in the mining sector and are proof of your deep aspirations for the future of our country.” Also in attendance at the opening was Ms Susan Shabangu, Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy, South Africa. She said, “Partnerships like these augur well for the people of Mali and South Africa, in terms of revenue and job creation…We really need sustainable economies, which will be able to attract investment and lead to economic growth. Projects like Yatela open doors for other investments, as potential investors begin to perceive the rising confidence shown by a growing number of mining companies in Mali.” In 1997, Sadiola Exploration Limited (SADEX), which is jointly owned by AngloGold and IAMGOLD, acquired the Yatela concession to supplement the deposit that SADEX had discovered on its adjacent property. In February 2000, the establishment of the Yatela Gold Mine was approved by the partners at a capital cost of US$76 million. The first gold from Yatela was poured on 9 May 2001, one month ahead of schedule and the mine came into full production on 15 June 2001. The mine was fully constructed, below budget, at total cost of US$73 million. Claude Barjot, Vice-President, African Affairs for IAMGOLD, said, “On behalf of IAMGOLD, we are very pleased to be here today and to be a part of Mali’s long and historic gold legacy. IAMGOLD also congratulates the AngloGold team on the excellent work done in bringing Yatela into production under budget and ahead of schedule.” The Yatela orebody will be mined in three stages via an open pit, which ultimately will be some 1,200 metres long, 600 metres wide and 230 metres deep. The gold will be recovered from the ore using heap-leach technology on site at Yatela. The mine is scheduled to treat some 2.5 million tonnes of ore annually, producing 1.4 million ounces of gold over a six-year period at an average grade of 3.6 grams per tonne and at an average total cash cost of US$175 per ounce. The total mineral reserve amounts to 1.34 million tonnes at 3.7 grams per tonne (1.6 million ounces), with total measured and indicated resources of 28 million tonnes at 2.5 grams per tonne (2.2 million ounces). Yatela Gold Mine makes every effort to employ local people on both temporary and permanent bases with priority being given to the residents of nearby villages most affected by the development o the mine, in particular Niamboulama and Kourketo. A total of 472 people work at the mine, either as employees or contractors. Some 434 are Malians. Bobby Godsell, Chairman and CEO of AngloGold, said, “AngloGold intends to be one of these companies. In doing so, we will serve the interests of our shareholders, of our employees and of the communities and countries in which we operate. The Yatela Mine is the clearest possible indication of the way we can and we are serving the people of Mali. anglogold.co.za