Gold price lifts majors

The U.S.-listed gold majors all posted strong gains over the report period ended Aug. 13 as gold prices jumped $8.45 to US$316.25 per oz.: Newmont Mining rose 95 to US$24.95; AngloGold added $1.17 to reach US$23.05; Gold Fields surged ahead 43 to US$11.05; Harmony Gold advanced 68 to US$12.65; and Compania de Minas Buenaventura was up $2 to US$23.30.

Ashanti Goldfields rose 30 to US$5 as South Africa’s Department of Minerals and Energy awarded the company’s 40%-owned vehicle Tameng Mining & Exploration the right to explore for platinum group metals in Limpopo province, along strike from SouthernEra’s Messina mine.

However, the silver stocks did not catch gold’s wave, with the white metal remaining unmoved at around US$4.63 per oz.: Coeur d’Alene Mines was up 13 to US$1.91 on encouraging, if not profitable, second-quarter results; Hecla Mining slipped 6 to US$3.58; and Apex Silver Mines eased off 7 to US$13.03.

Among the base metal miners, Aussie copper and uranium major WMC managed to rise 24 to US$16 as it reported that first-half, after-tax profits had plummeted more than 40% to A$156 million. The company has had operational difficulties at its flagship Olympic Dam mine.

Although base metal prices were at a virtual standstill, the remaining miners rallied convincingly: Alcoa recovered 36 to US$25.33; Phelps Dodge jumped $1.28 to US$31.75; BHP Billiton was up 42 to US$9.70; Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold climbed 98 to US$15.58; Rio Tinto advanced $2.60 to reach US$66.45; and Anglo American tacked on 33 to end at US$12.23.