The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

VANCOUVER - Gold miners are sweetening their shareholder payouts in an attempt to lure investors as they dive back into the precious metal.

Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. two of the world’s top producers, announced increases to their dividends on Wednesday, while Goldcorp Inc. hinted a hike is in the works.

Gold companies traditionally have paid low dividends, but they’re stepping up payouts as they compete for investors in the precious metals industry.

More investors are turning to gold as a haven amid turmoil in global financial markets, which stems from worries about a replay of the last global recession. Read the rest of this entry »

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

VANCOUVER— The world’s top gold miners are forging ahead with expansion plans and higher dividend payments, despite worries that bullion is bound for a correction after a spectacular runup beyond $1,900 (U.S.) an ounce earlier this month.

The companies are vowing to tackle the issue of share values that lag gold prices through aggressive growth plans, rising margins and sweetened dividends, despite the challenges of rising costs and increased competition for investors.

Executives believe that the price of gold will continue to rise and that equities will soon catch up and could even surpass physical gold in returns to investors.

“I do think the equities will respond,” Barrick Gold Corp.chief executive office Aaron Regent told investors at the Denver Gold Show in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Monday. “The equities have not reflected the strong fundamentals of the underlying businesses.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Global gold mine production increased by 3 percent over the third quarter of this year to approximately 659 tonnes, as a number of new operations either came online or increased production. Increased Australian production contributed to the majority of the output growth, although Mexico and Argentina also exhibited positive production on an annualized basis. Offsetting the impact of these developments was a decline in production in Indonesia, Russia and Peru. 

The decline in production in Indonesia should not be a point of concern for investors as its production totals in 2009 had increased almost 66 percent last year, the largest one year production increase of any country in the world.  Last year the only other top 10 gold producing country in the world to demonstrate double digit growth in annual production was Ghana, with a 13 percent increase.

Mining Companies

The world’s top ten gold mining companies include:

Barrick Gold Corp. (TSE: ABX), the world’s largest pure gold miner, operates 26 gold mines, in addition to projects in the pipeline across Australia, North America, South America and Africa. According to a report issued by the company last year, it established 139.8 million ounces of proven, probable gold reserves, amongst the largest amount of un-hedged reserves in the industry. Barrick Gold has an optimistic goal of reaching 7.6 to 8.0 million ounces of gold produced during the current fiscal year, at a total cash cost of $425 to $455 per ounce. Read the rest of this entry »

There is a New Day Dawning at Newmont and each day affords us the opportunity to renew our commitment and dedication to be an industry leader as we strive to achieve our vision of becoming The Gold Company of Choice through industry leading performance. We have reaffirmed the values that guide us as we seek the most effective ways to provide sustainable value for our employees, our communities and our shareholders by “acting with integrity, trust and respect.”

In 2007, we began to redirect the company and our business strategy. We established a new management team and implemented initiatives that will enable us to dedicate ourselves to Newmont’s core gold business, to expand our growth and exploration opportunities and to unlock the value embedded in our capital structure, as well as reduce operating costs.

Key highlights during the year included:
• Producing 5.3 million equity ounces of gold, in line with our original guidance and expectations;
• Investing significantly in our business, including more than $1 billion in new gold projects and operating efficiency initiatives;
• Eliminating our gold hedge book, which positioned Newmont as the premier un-hedged gold company, and improved our financial strength and flexibility;
Read the rest of this entry »