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Mix-Ansicht- junior gold shares - wer von den gold bugs nennt die favoriten? - black elk, 24.01.2002, 20:59
junior gold shares - wer von den gold bugs nennt die favoriten?
TORONTO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - After more than five years in the cold, small-cap Canadian gold miners have woken up to a gold-stock rush that has sent their shares hurtling up faster than the general equity market.
The interest, in part, is anticipation of rising gold prices and a new bull market for gold, said Sprott Securities analyst George Topping.
But he said new impetus for gold also came from a fierce takeover battle between U.S.-based Newmont Mining Corp (NEM) and South Africa's AngloGold Ltd (ANGJ) for Australia's Normandy.
"We haven't seen such activity in these (junior) gold stocks since the last bull market ended in 1996," Topping said. He said that bets were on mid- to low-market capitalization gold stocks to outperform majors like Barrick Gold Corp (ABX) or Placer Dome Inc (PDG), which define the market.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's precious minerals index has climbed 28 percent over the past year, while the bourse's main TSE300 composite index has fallen 12.2 percent.
Juniors like Agnico Eagle (AGE), Meridian Gold (MNG), Goldcorp Inc (G), Glamis Gold Ltd (GLG), Kinross Gold Corp (K), Cambior Inc. (CBJ), High River Gold (HRG), TVX Gold (TVX), and NovaGold Resources Inc (NRI) are among the winners.
Miners said they were being swamped with bought-deal offers from brokers who previously concentrated on technology issues.
"You will find that these companies are getting pitched on a daily basis by investment dealers, something we haven't seen in many years," Topping said."The dealers are brokers who get an indication from clients and take it to the company."
Kinross said on Tuesday it agreed to sell 20 million shares to a syndicate of underwriters to raise C$27 million to boost its balance sheet. Eldorado Gold Corp (ELD) announced a deal to sell 47 million special warrants to raise C$20 million.
Pure Gold Minerals Inc (PUG) and Vista Gold Corp (VGZ) announced similar financing deals on Wednesday.
APPETITE FOR GOLD
"I have just talked to a couple of companies and in the last 24 hours they have all had offers for stock," said David Davidson, an equity analyst for Beacon Group Advisors in Toronto."There is certainly an appetite for gold."
Davidson said junior miners survived the past few years through convertible debentures and bank debt. Now there was capital for them to kick-start projects in anticipation the gold price will rise to $300 an ounce this year.
Gold traded at $280.60 an ounce in London on Wednesday.
"People are starting to look at gold as a real investment opportunity given the circumstances we now live in, and I'm not only referring to Sept. 11, but also the fragile economic nature of the economies," said Glamis Gold spokesman David Hyatt.
The company had a bought-deal in October to finance its Marigold expansion project in Nevada, one of its three operating mines. Its stock has risen 210 percent in a year and was last down 32 Canadian cents at C$6.50 from C$2.10 a year ago.
Goldcorp's shares have risen 125 percent over the past 12 months to around C$21.35 on Wednesday from C$9.45, with investor interest in the company focused on its Red Lake underground mine in Canada's province of Ontario.
Shares in Agnico Eagle, which has a large U.S. retail following which reacts quickly to gold price movements, has risen 104 percent in a year and was near its 52-week high on Wednesday at C$18.81 from C$9.20 at the start of 2001.
The company operates the wholly-owned LaRonde mine in northern Quebec that is seen producing 340,000 ounces in 2002.
Cambior, whose stock is up 128 percent at C$1.05 from year-ago levels, has recovered from huge debt in late 1999 after it was caught short with a speculative hedge position. Since then, the company has restructured and tightened its operations, disposing of several assets.
Shares in Meridian Gold have climbed 82 percent to C$18.84 from C$10.35 a year ago. Its main asset is the El Penon mine in Chile which is forecast to produce over 300,000 ounces of gold at a cash cost of $45 an ounce.
NovaGold, whose key Donlin Creek deposit in Alaska is the focus of attention, has been a big winner in the rally. Its stock rose to a new 52-week high on Wednesday at C$3 from 13 ó??? cents a year ago -- a rise of 2,200 percent.
Stock in High River Gold, which has operations in Canada and Russia, climbed 221 percent over the past year, and was up 2 Canadian cents at 92 Canadian cents on Wednesday after hitting a new 52-week high in the previous session.
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