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To: MR. PANAMA (I am a PLAYER) who wrote (11094)	7/21/1998 5:52:00 PM
From: McNabb Brothers	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 164684

Bateman, You can not loose can you! From now on let the thread know before hand that you sold this morning! You are one AMAZING trader! Bet you did the same with MU, BRE-X, and etc.! Keep up the good work! Hank

To: MR. PANAMA (I am a PLAYER) who wrote (11094)	7/22/1998 8:40:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

***OT** Gold hedging, lower costs boost Barrick profit Reuters Story - July 21, 1998 22:04 %GDM %SP500 %CA %LATAM %MET %RES ABX.TO V%REUTER P%RTR (All figures in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated) By Paul Simao TORONTO, July 21 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold Corp. , the second largest gold producer in North America, credited lower operating costs and a lucrative gold hedging program on Tuesday for yet another quarterly profit. Barrick said it earned $67 million, or $0.18 a share, on revenue of $296 million in the second quarter, compared with a profit of $62 million, or $0.16 a share, on revenue of $314 million in the same period last year. It was the third straight quarterly profit for the Toronto-based company. "The strong results reflect the quality of our assets, our innovative hedging program and our focus on productivity improvements," said Barrick Chief Executive Paul Melnuk. "With rising earnings and cash flow, low costs and unrivaled financial strength, Barrick has a competitive advantage in this gold price environment to pursue new opportunities for growth," Melnuk said. Barrick's hedging program, considered one of the best in the gold industry, allowed the company to sell its gold at an average price of $400 an ounce for total proceeds of $73 million in the second quarter. Gold traded at an average spot price of $301 an ounce during the same period. On Tuesday, it traded at $295.00 an ounce, down sharply from its 1997 high of $363 an ounce. "With 10 million ounces hedged at an average price of $400 an ounce through the year 2000, Barrick is well positioned in this market to maximize revenue and minimize gold price risk," the company said. Barrick also reduced its cash operating costs to $161 an ounce in the second quarter from $186 an ounce in the same period last year. Mining analysts said Barrick's results confirmed the company's strong position in Canada's ailing gold sector. "It was expected to be a good quarter for them," said John Ing, president of Maison Placements Canada Inc. "They have one of the better balance sheets and one of the finest hedging programs in the industry," Ing said. Ing added that increasing its gold reserves would be the main challenge facing Barrick in the future. Barrick closed high-cost mines in Chile and United States last year after bullion fell below the psychologically key $300-an-ounce level. It offset those production losses by boosting output at its prized Betze-Post and Meikle mines on the Goldstrike property in Nevada. Gold production at Goldstrike reached 549,219 ounces in the second quarter, an eight percent rise from the 509,601 ounces produced in the first quarter of 1997. Barrick said it expected Goldstrike to achieve record production and cash operating costs for 1998. Barrick produced three million ounces of gold in 1997 and has a production target of 3.5 million ounces by 1999. Achieving that goal will largely depend on production at the on Barrick's new low-cost Pierina mine in Peru, scheduled to begin production by the end of 1998. Barrick said it expected Pierina to produce about 750,000 ounces of gold annually at an operating cost of $50 an ounce, strengthening the company's reputation as one of the world's lowest-cost gold producers. Barrick shares rose C$0.10 to C$27.80 at midday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. ($1=C$1.49)