nouvelles déclarations du patron de barrick.. et commentaires d'Adrian Douglas
www.lemetropolecafe.com Barrick may close hedgebook ahead of plan
* Barrick says bought back 1 million oz of gold in Oct
* Could complete programme before 12 month window
* Sees global gold mine production in continuing decline
EDINBURGH, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold , the world's biggest miner of the precious metal, said it may complete the planned closure of its hedgebook announced last month before the end of the 12-month window it had set.
Barrick Chief Financial Officer Jamie Sokalsky also told Reuters the company had bought back 1 million ounces of hedged gold in October. "We are going to be opportunistic, and we're going to be responsive to the market, but we will have it done by 12 months at the latest," Sokalsky said on the sidelines of the London Bullion Market Association's annual conference.
"We could very well do it before then," he said, adding: "The market was right for us in October to buy the million ounces and we'll see what transpires going forward."
Hedging allows producers to lock in prices for future output, but the strategy can backfire if prices rise significantly.
"The hedgebook had been a disadvantage to our share price, because shareholders didn't think we had (exposure to) upside to the gold price," Sokalasky said.
"By taking away the cap, we should be able to more fully benefit, as we believe the gold prices will rise significantly."
A combination of global economic, political and financial uncertainty and strong fundamentals -- good investment demand combined with constrained mine supply -- mean gold could set new highs in the near future, he said.
"It is hard to put a number on it, but if you look at where gold rose to back in the early 1980s on an inflation-adjusted basis, it was over $2,000 an ounce," he said.
"I am not necessarily predicting that, but I think we can certainly go up by a few hundred dollars, maybe higher," he said.
Gold's record high is $1,070.40 an ounce, set in October.
Sokalsky also said Barrick believes gold mine supply will continue to fall, which would support the gold price.
"There has been a dearth of big gold discoveries, exploration spending had dried up when the gold price was under $300 more than a decade ago, and as a result, there haven't been a lot of exploration finds," he said.
-END-
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Yes Barrick, exploration spending did dry up and YOU and Gold Cartel allies were the ones responsible for that dearth. Meanwhile, if the likes of a Barrick was covering, who were the commercial short positions for. We know. Why don’t any of the lame ones in the mainstream gold world ever ask?
Adrian...
Barrick Bill,
As you know I have been approaching the analysis of the LBMA OTC gold market from different angles and I have inferred that they are running a fractional reserve system. This is made possible because the gold is traded in unallocated accounts and many customers don’t take delivery and leave the gold that they believe they have bought in the LBMA vaults. I calculate that the amount of gold that has been sold that doesn’t exist, paper gold if you will, could be around 50,000t. What struck me today in the GATA release about Barrick hedges is the following:
QUOTE
Barrick Chief Financial Officer Jamie Sokalsky also told Reuters the company had bought back 1 million ounces of hedged gold in October.
"We are going to be opportunistic, and we're going to be responsive to the market, but we will have it done by 12 months at the latest," Sokalsky said on the sidelines of the London Bullion Market Association's annual conference.
"We could very well do it before then," he said, adding: "The market was right for us in October to buy the million ounces and we'll see what transpires going forward."
END
Notice where it was that Barrick’s CFO suddenly got an epiphany that they should accelerate the timing of covering their massive hedge book…it was at the London Bullion Market Association's annual conference!! Now do you think someone might have mentioned in the coffee break that investors are asking for their gold and pretty soon it’s going to be obvious that there’s more gold sold than there is available for delivery?
How could the market have been right for Barrick in October??? Gold went up 3.2% in the month…what is opportunistic about covering one million ounces in a rising market? There is only one freakin’ word for that and it is PANIC!
Seems awfully coincidental that it’s while attending the LBMA conference that the CFO reveals there is an even greater urgency for Barrick to cover hedges.
The plot thickens!
Cheers
Adrian
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Pépite Bull 
Sujet: Re: Barrick Gold: a ticking time bomb:depuis le tps qu'on le dit 
Jeu 15 Oct 2009 - 1:19
