Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Gold - who knows it better than people producing it from Mud?

Gold dehedging hits record high in 2nd quarter: GFMS
Wed 22 Aug 2007, 5:51 GMT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold dehedging hit a new high in the second quarter of 2007, with 5.2 million ounces (161 tonnes) removed from producers' hedge books compared with the first quarter, a quarterly study by precious metals consultant GFMS Ltd. released on Tuesday said.
The study, compiled by GFMS on behalf of Societe Generale, said that the outright elimination of two substantial hedge books, Newmont Mining and Lihir, led the reduction for the quarter. The companies reduced nearly 3.5 million ounces, accounting for nearly half of the total decline among all forward corporate gold sales contracts, GFMS said.
In recent years, mining companies have increasingly reduced hedges to take advantage of the rising bullion prices.
Spot gold was quoted at around $657 an ounce on Tuesday, compared with its 26-year high of $730 set in May 2006.
Total outstanding producer hedge positions was now 34.2 million ounces (1,064 tonnes) in delta-adjusted terms at the end of the second quarter, GFMS said.

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