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

To: long-gone who wrote (14618)	7/18/1998 2:50:00 AM
From: Wizzer	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 116762

Gut feeling only: I have thought for some time that the POG has been artificially suppressed to allow certain countries to purchase cheaper gold. It always seemed odd to me that countries were announcing their intention to sell that much gold, so much in advance. World events seemed to coincide with these actions, such as falling monetary values, stock market worries, etc.... Perhaps, financially challenged countries are currently purchasing cheap gold to support their suffering currencies, possibly by suggestion of the IMF. The "advance" announcement of selling gold reserves dropped the POG to facilitate this agenda. The ultimate stabilizing effect on worldwide currencies would be quite enormous, and cause less fluctuations in currency with proper management of reserves. Being a Canadian, I also find it intriguing that Canada has done little to defend it's falling dollar. Normal practice would be to purchase Canadian money against other currencies to increase the value of the dollar. Why hasn't Canada done much? Perhaps, Canada is also buying cheap gold to add to it's reserves. This would serve to boost the value of the Canadian dollar for the long term. This is an opinion only, however it seems to make sense to me***

To: long-gone who wrote (14618)	7/18/1998 1:13:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116762

Saudi through their hat in- they understand a need to get POG (read oil) up.. (in dollar terms not rand of course (3 year high) :) INTERVIEW-Saudi sees gold output doubling by 2001 12:05 p.m. Jul 18, 1998 Eastern By Caroline Drees RIYADH, July 18 (Reuters) - The world's biggest oil producer Saudi Arabia hopes to double its gold production by 2001, optimistic that sickly gold prices will recover. Abdallah al-Dabbagh, president of the state-owned Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Maadin), told Reuters expansion of two operating mines and the startup of two new ones would strongly boost the kingdoms output, which topped seven tonnes last year. ''By the year 2001 we hope to double the production of gold in Saudi Arabia, along with some of the other minerals,'' Dabbagh said in an interview in the Saudi capital Riyadh. In addition to the active gold mines of Mahd ad-Dhahab and Sukhaybarat, the mines of al-Amar and al-Hajjar were expected to come on stream within about two years, Dabbagh said. Saudi Arabia, more famous for its vast reserves of the ''black gold,'' is seeking to tap its substantial deposits of gold, silver, copper, bauxite and other minerals in a bid to reduce its reliance on petroleum. Brimming oil inventories and a slump in Asian demand due to the region's economic turmoil have pushed crude prices into the bargain basement, highlighting the value of Saudi efforts to diversify the oil-led economy. ''We are feeling that we have a lot of pressure now to bring some of our projects (on stream) as soon as possible,'' Dabbagh said. The Maadin chief was optimistic sagging world gold prices would recover by the time the new mines come on stream. Bullion, which hit an 18-year low in January at $278 an ounce, was quoted at $294.20 on Friday. ''The fact that gold prices are depressed now is encouraging for us because a lot of mines are closing down,'' Dabbagh said. ''By the time we start producing (at the new mines) in 18 months to two years, I assume that the price of gold will be up.'' The newly-formed Maadin runs the country's largest mine Mahd adh-Dhahab -- ''cradle of gold'' in Arabic -- which has an annual production of 170,000 ounces, Dabbagh said. It also holds a 50 percent stake in the Sukhaybarat gold mine, which has an output of 90,000 ounces per year. Dabbagh said Maadin was considering buying the remaining 50 percent from joint venture partner Boliden Ltd, which is listed in Toronto. Dabbagh said expansion work was underway at both mines. Maadin was awarded the mining licences for al-Amar last year and for al-Hajjar in May. ''We are just breaking ground at al-Amar,'' he said, adding that his company was investing some $98 million in the project which was expected to start production by 2000. Dabbagh said his company had already dug the mine tunnels and hoped to sign a contract ''fairly soon'' for a treatment plant. ''Production is expected to be about 125,000 ounces a year and will run for eight or more years,'' he said. Al-Amar has reserves of about 2.7 million tonnes with a yield of about 12 grams per tonne (g/T). ''We are also breaking ground at al-Hajjar, another project with about 4.2 million tonnes of reserves, but only 2.6 g/T,'' he said, adding the mine had a life expectancy of five years. ''We will produce something like 50,000 ounces per year (at al-Hajjar),'' he said. In addition to gold, Dabbagh said Maadin was also looking at mines of other minerals for potential development, including the central Saudi Khnaiguiyah zinc mine, phosphate deposits at al- Jalamid and bauxite in az-Zabirah, both in the north. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited