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

To: Ken Benes who wrote (34245)	5/20/1999 8:59:00 AM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116822

We need to be selling gold from mines! Thursday May 20, 8:35 am Eastern Time Note: this article has a followup with more information. INSTANT VIEW - March US trade gap record $19.7 bln NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - Following are comments from economists after the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Thursday that the U.S. international trade deficit widened to a record $19.7 billion March from a revised $19.15 billion in February. Economists surveyed by Reuters predicted, on average, that the trade gap would narrow to $18.5 billion. ALLAN LESLIE, INDEPENDENT ECONOMIST: ''It will take the first quarter data down a little bit ... but not substantially. This still leaves you above 4 percent for the first quarter (Gross Domestic Product). It does take a little bit of steam out of the second quarter estimates. You'll probably see an awful lot of estimates now in 2-2.5 percent range.'' Leslie was speaking on Reuters Television. (Note: this article is ''in progress''; there will likely be an update soon.) biz.yahoo.com

To: Ken Benes who wrote (34245)	5/20/1999 3:21:00 PM
From: Alex	Respond to of 116822

Mining industry will ride out gold price fall, say analysts Johannesburg (Sapa-AFP) - SA's gold mining industry, the most productive in the world, should ride out the plummet in the price of bullion, analysts said on Thursday. The gold price hit a 20-year low on Wednesday, falling to $272.25 an ounce. It opened in Johannesburg on Thursday at $274.10 an ounce. Although two marginal mines could be affected by the dip, "I don't think they are directly under threat," said Andre Cronje from the Gold Crisis Committee. The committee comprises government, labour and industry representatives, and was set up to address previous massive job losses in the industry. "We have no notice (from them) of intentions to close," Cronje told AFP. The slide forced Randfontein Estates on Wednesday to suspend its R800 million Doornkop South Reef development project, due to start up in 2001. Cronje said the price fall was a panic reaction by markets to the Bank of England's announcement this month that it plans to dispose of 415 tonnes of gold - more than half of its stocks - starting in July. Economist Tony Twine said: "With the world demand for gold outstripping the world supply, this is probably a temporary softening, but it might last for several months." Twine said the drop could threaten jobs in the mining industry, which laid off some 70 000 workers last year, according to union estimates. "We know how those jobs have declined from more that 500 000 at the beginning of the decade to less than 300 000 now," he said. SA produced some 29 percent of the world's gold in the last decade, but has seen a steady decline in production. In 1992 the country yielded some 613 tonnes of gold, and this dropped to some 473.8 tonnes in 1998, according to the Chamber of Mines, which represents the major mining houses. Gold makes up 18 percent of SA's exports. from E-data barney.co.za