Gold closed Friday at US$1,293.40 per oz., up US$18.50 per ounce. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index rose 0.35% to 80.88 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.27% to 23,358.24 and the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.13% to 2,578.85.
Shares of Tahoe Resources rose 6.6% to US$4.66. In August 2017, the Guatemalan Supreme Court temporarily revoked Tahoe’s Escobal mining licence in response to lobbying from anti-mining organization CALAS. It alleged Guatemala’s Ministry of Energy and Mines violated the Xinca Indigenous Peoples’ rights of consultation by prematurely granting the Escobal licence in the first place. The decision was reversed two weeks later.
The company announced strong third-quarter results on Nov. 6, declaring a 10,000 oz. increase in gold production over the same quarter of the previous year. Revenue was down to $155 million from $234 million the previous year, but year-to-date revenue was up to $615 million from $595 million.
DRDGOLD shares rose 5.6% to US$3.77. On Aug. 29 the company rejected a report released the same day by the Bench Marks Foundation entitled ‘Waiting to Inhale’ that accused DRDGOLD of breaking environmental regulations for waste disposal around its Ergo plant near Johannesburg. The company categorically rebutted the claims, saying the report lacked “independent, credible research.”
In a July dividend report marking the end of the company’s fiscal year, it declared gold production was down 4% over the previous year and operating profit was down 41%. However, CEO Niel Pretorius described the costs as “steps to position the company well for fiscal 2018 and beyond.”
Shares of Seabridge Gold fell US$1.25 to US$11.20. The company had faced allegations from the South East Alaska Conservation Council claiming that Seabridge had not disclosed project documents or engaged properly with stakeholders regarding its KSM project in British Columbia. The non-governmental group had also accused Seabridge of not exercising due diligence regarding the potential environmental and human rights impacts of its project. Canada’s National Contact Point dismissed the allegations after an initial assessment on Nov. 21. TNM
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