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AngloGold Ashanti eliminates gold hedge book
By Robb M. Stewart
The Wall Street Journal
Thursday, October 7, 2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870469630457553785141584507...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. has taken a $2.6 billion bet on the rising price of the precious metal, saying it has eliminated the last of what in recent years have been disadvantageous contracts to sell gold at set prices.
By closing its hedge book, the Johannesburg-based company will now sell gold at market prices, which it said it expects will enhance cash flow and profit margins.
Already, the decision has begun to pay off for AngloGold, one of the last major gold producers globally to hedge its output, essentially foregoing gains in prices for the security of knowing it will be able to set its output at a given level. Hedging was a popular practice in the 1990s as gold prices floundered and some central banks sold parts of their reserves.
... Dispatch continues below ...
Prophecy to Become Coal Producer This Year
with 1.5 Billion Tonnes of Resource
Prophecy Resource Corp. (TSX.V: PCY) announced on May 11 that it has entered into a mine services agreement with Leighton Asia Ltd. to begin coal production this year. Production will begin with a 250,000-tonne starter pit as planned in August, with production advancing to 2 million tonnes per year in 2011. Prophecy is fully funded to production and its management team includes John Morganti, Arnold Armstrong, and Rob McEwen.
For Prophecy's complete press release about its production plans, please visit:
http://www.prophecyresource.com/news_2010_may11.php
The spot price of the metal surged to a new record Thursday.
"I am pleased I will never have to answer another question about the hedge book again," said Chief Executive Mark Cutifani, who made ridding the company of the hedges a priority when he took the role in September 2007.
Anglogold paid an average of $1,300 a troy ounce to dissolve the remaining hedges, which Mr. Cutifani told reporters during a conference call was slightly higher than AngloGold had expected to pay. Global events, including the continual printing of money "hand over fist" by the U.S. and other countries and analyst predictions that gold could hit $1,500 per ounce, convinced the company to push ahead, he said.
The spot price as of Thursday was about $1,360 per ounce.
"We are already in the money," Mr. Cutifani said.
AngloGold said the closing of the contracts cost it $2.63 billion, which is in addition to $98 million the company paid to cover maturing hedges in the third quarter. Charges against earnings to cover those costs will be taken in the third and fourth quarters of 2010.
The hedge book locked in prices for 11.3 million troy ounces of gold at the beginning of 2008, and has been steadily reduced since then to 3.22 million ounces in June. Mr. Cutifani said the cost of taking out the hedges has been about $6 billion, while the company would have foregone $10 billion if it had done nothing.
"The completion of the hedge book restructure over the last three years has created about $4 billion of value for our shareholders," Mr. Cutifani said.
AngloGold in September raised a gross $1.6 billion in an offering of equity and mandatory convertible bonds to help cover the cost of dissolving the remaining hedges.
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Sona Resources Expects Positive Cash Flow from Blackdome,
Plans Aggressive Exploration of Elizabeth Gold Property
On May 18, 2010, Sona Resources Corp. (TSXV: SYS, Frankfurt: QS7) announced the release of a preliminary economic assessment for gold production at its flagship Blackdome and Elizabeth properties in British Columbia.
Sona Executive Chairman Nick Ferris says: "We view this as a baseline scenario for gold production. The project is highly sensitive to the price of gold. A conservative valuation of gold at $1,093 per ounce would result in a pre-tax cash flow of $54 million. The assessment indicates that underground mining at the two sites would recover 183,600 ounces of gold and 62,500 ounces of silver. Permitting and infrastructure are already in place for processing ore at the Blackdome mill, with a 200-tonne per day throughput over an eight-year mine life. Our near-term goal is to continue aggressive exploration at Elizabeth and develop a million-plus-ounce gold resource, commencing production in 2013."
For complete information on Sona Resources Corp. please visit: www.SonaResources.com
