Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[basserdan]

*** Gold related post (NEM) ***

G'morning Bear,
Fyi....

Newmont's Yanacocha Mine to Beat 2003 Output Forecast

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Latin America's biggest gold mine, Minera Yanacocha SA, will surpass the 2.7 million ounces of gold it forecast for production this year, said Newmont Mining Corp.'s managing director for Latin America, Carlos Santa Cruz.

``We are getting into the rainy season and we don't want to risk forecasting too aggressively, but I can tell you now that it's going to be above 2.7 million ounces,'' Santa Cruz said in a telephone interview from his office in Lima.

Production costs at the mine, located in Peru's northern highlands of Cajamarca, will decline 6.4 percent to $117 per ounce from $125 per ounce last year due in part to improvements in operating efficiency, Santa Cruz said.

Yanacocha, which was built in the early 1990s and is majority owned and operated by Denver-based Newmont Mining, the world's top gold miner, is reaching its peak output this year, Santa Cruz said. Peru's Cia. de Minas Buenaventura SA has a 44 percent stake in the mine.

The mine's production will likely remain close to this year's ``over the next several years,'' Santa Cruz said. Output has climbed from 2.3 million ounces in 2002 and 1.9 million ounces in 2001.

Reserves Unchanged

Yanacocha won't likely increase its level of reserves beyond the 32.5 million ounces of gold it has reported, Santa Cruz said.

``This year we are likely to be close but we aren't likely to replace reserves,'' he said. ``However, we will be well positioned for reserve replacement in 2004.''

Gold for three-month delivery today rose $4.70 or 1.3 percent, to $378.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, a seven-month high.

Newmont shares rose 22 cents to $39.11. Shares of Buenaventura traded in Lima climbed 2 soles, or 3.1 percent, to a record high of 67 soles.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=aegDRcnx1w.k&refer=latin_america