Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX), the largest gold mining company in the world, has entered into an agreement with Xstrata Copper Chile S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Xstrata Plc, to acquire Xstrata’s 70% interest in the El Morro project for $465 million in cash. Another Canadian miner, New Gold Inc. (NGD) owns the remaining 30% interest in El Morro. The El Morro gold project is located in the Atacama Region in Chile. The project has total measured and indicated resources of about 8.3 million ounces of gold and about 6.3 billion pounds of copper. The acquisition will add another large, high quality gold-copper resource to Barrick’s portfolio. In Chile, Barrick already controls a project, which is entering construction, called Pascua-Lama. It also has a 50% stake in another mine, the Cerro Casale project. El Morro is located near the Pascua-Lama and Cerro Casale projects. Xstrata ...

Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX) reported a flat $492 million or 56 cents per share in profits in the second quarter of the year, compared to the year ago level of $485 million or 55 cents per share. The Canadian gold miner generated revenues of $2.03 billion, 3% higher than the year ago level. Operating cash flow rose 42% to $718 million compared to $505 million in the same prior-year period. This reflected lower income tax payments as a result of the production mix and the use of tax loss carry forwards. The realized gold price for the quarter was $931 per ounce, which was $33 higher than the year ago level. Gold production reached 1.87 million ounces at total cash costs of $452 per ounce due to strong operating performance in the North and South America regions. This put the company on track with a ...

Source: The Gold Report  05/29/2009
Gold investors know all too well the psychological importance of $1,000 gold. The yellow metal’s been hovering frustratingly near that level for weeks after briefly surpassing it in February. According to John Kaiser, editor of the Kaiser Bottom-Fishing Report, “we’re getting very close.” In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, John shares his “modest” price forecast of $1,300 – $1,400 within the next six months and presents strategies for gold companies looking to create value.

The Gold Report: John, you have said that you believe gold may go up to $1,300 to $1,400, but probably not higher. Can you give our readers an overview of how you achieved those targets?

John Kaiser: I think we’re ready for a real increase in the price of gold, which is why I am looking at more modest targets, such as $1,300 to $1,400, happening …