Gammon Gold (NYSE:GRS) Releases Ocampo Drilling Update

After the completion of its exploration program at Ocampo, Gammon Gold (NYSE:GRS) released its results, which at several different sites were reported as high grade.

Peter Drobeck, the Senior Vice President of Exploration and Business Development at Gammon Gold Inc., said, “We are very encouraged by the continuing positive results from our exploration program that supports the significant upside potential at Ocampo.”

The gold miner added they've already begun their exploration drilling program at Ocampo for 2011, which includes 11 rigs working at a variety of veins at the project.

For 2010, they used 12 rigs for the exploratory program, which the sites Refugio Norte, Resurrecion and Polvorin had high mineralization.

Gammon Gold closed Monday at $8.18, up $0.01, or 0.12 percent.

Eldorado (NYSE:EGO) Begins Iron Ore Shipments from Vila Nova

Already one of the top gold miners as measured by low costs, Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) has launched its first shipment of iron ore from its Vila Nova Mine in Brazil, which could help lower gold production costs even more for the company.

The first shipment included 45,000 tons of lump ore grading approximately 63% Fe, which was sold to the Chinese spot market, according to a press release from the company.

Paul N. Wright, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eldorado said, "We are pleased to be able to realize the first shipment of iron ore from our Vila Nova Mine and I would like to thank our Brazilian team for their outstanding efforts. Vila Nova is part of our strategy to expand our business in Brazil which we see as an important component in the continued growth of Eldorado Gold."

A second shipment is expected to proceed in the latter part of November, which will include an additional 45,000 tons of sinter ore.

The two shipments are part of Eldorado's strategy to test the quality of the ore and operational factors to see how the work is performed. They plan on shipping another 90,000 tons to that end.

Eldorado was trading in New York at $17.99, gaining $0.09, or 0.50 percent at 1:08 PM EDT.

Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) Making its Move?

If you look at a chart of Newmont Mining's (NYSE:NEM) performance over the last five years, you find it less than inspiring, as until this summer, it hadn't reached the levels it has in the early part of 2006, when it hit $59.87 on January 9.

It took until June of 2010 for the largest U.S. gold miner to reach and surpass those levels, and it looks like they may have finally broken out, closing at $63.40 on Friday, after reaching as high as $65.40 on Wednesday.

With expectations high in the gold mining stocks because of the ongoing gold bull market, the largest gold mining companies have underperformed as the smaller companies have been outperforming them in a major way.

Major gold miners were held back because costs were increasing at approximately the same pace as prices.

Increasing gold prices are finally starting to overcome that, and it looks like Newmont may be in for a nice upward run.

Although Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) and Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) have outperformed Newmont over the last five years, over the last two or three years, when gold prices were soaring, they've been mostly flat as well.

Great Basin Gold (AMEX:GBG): Time to Buy?

Market timing isn't a good strategy of investors in the best of times, and in volatile times it's even more risky. In the case of Great Basin Gold (AMEX:GBG) though, it could be the perfect time, as they're ready to get both of their mines up and running, and that is usually the most profitable entry point for acquiring shares in a gold miner.

The two mines owned by Great Basin Gold include the Hollister mine in Nevada and the Burnstone mine in South Africa.

When the two mines are at full production, the Hollister mine will produce about 120,000 ounces of gold equivalents a year, while the Burnstone mine will at full production produce about 250,000 ounces of gold a year for Burnstone Mine.

The Burnstone mine is close to coming online, as they've finally connected to the Eskom electrical grid in the early part of August, and production should begin this quarter.

One thing to keep in mind about the South African Burnstone project is there are more risks there than with its Hollister mine from a geopolitical standpoint, and so that has to be watched.

But for now, it looks like a good point of entry for investors who don't mind some risk in the gold sector.

Kinross (NYSE:KGC) Follows Gold Prices Up

Gold prices have been up for the last three trading sessions, helping gold miners recover some from an otherwise slow week and month.

Underlying fundamentals remain the same, and gold prices are expected to resume their upward run, although it may take until sometime in August before that happens, as the typical summer doldrums are still here, and investors have been ignoring the economic signs pointing to ongoing difficulties.

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC)(TSE:K) on their part, moved up with gold prices over the last three days, ending the week at $16.39, gaining $0.22, or 1.36 percent.

The gold mining company will provide their earnings report on August 4.

Centerra Gold (TSE:CG) Paying First Dividend in its History

With attention being fixated on gold and gold mining companies, a number of firms have made changes to attract investors and gravitate toward being run like a company people understand.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CG) has responded in that regard by announcing their first dividend payout in the history of the company,.

Starting on September 1, shareholders will receive a dividend of 6 Canadian cents a share, payable on September 8.

This comes off a return to profitability by the company, which generated profits of $29.8 million, or 13 cents a share for its latest quarter. That is in contrast to the loss last year of $79.6 million, or 26 cents a share, last year in the same quarter.

That exceeded analysts' expectations of 5 cents a share.

Centerra Gold (TSE:CG) Profitable Again

Centerra Gold (TSE:CG) has returned to profitability this quarter, as stability in Kyrgyzstan helped the gold miner to increase production, along with higher gold prices, helped them to a solid performance.

For the quarter, Centerra exceeded expectations, generating earnings of $29.8 million, or 13 cents a share. Last year in the same quarter the company had a loss of $79.6 million, or 36 cents. That was related to higher costs and diminished recovery of gold. Analysts had been looking for 5 cents a share on average.

Revenue increased to $152.2 million, a gain of 46 percent.

The flagship of Centerra is its Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan, and it operates a second mine in Mongolia - the Boroo mine, which is much smaller than Kumtor.

Gold production increased from 110,457 ounces in the second quarter of last year, to 121,728 ounces the last quarter.

Eldorado's (NYSE:EGO) Earnings More Than Double, Revenue Surges

Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE:EGO) (TSE:ELD) joined the parade of gold miners who performed strongly in the latest quarter, as earnings more than doubled and revenue was up 158 percent.

For the second quarter, earning soared to $60.5 million, or 11 cents a share, way up from the $25.9 million, or 7 cents a share in the same quarter of 2009.

Revenue also exploded to $207.8 million, an increase of 158 percent.

Analysts were looking for revenue of $185.2 million and earnings of 8 cents a share.

Gold production in the quarter almost doubled, with the number of gold ounces produced exploding to 167,940 ounces, just short of doubling last year's 84,572 ounces.

Cost on average were up this quarter though, rising from $303 an ounce last year to $357 an ounce this year in the same quarter.

The average price of gold sold by the miner was $1,195 an ounce, selling a total of 172,826 ounces during that time.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX), Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) and Agnico-Eagle (NYSE:AEM) have all reported this week, and have performed strongly.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) was the only slight disappointment, as there earnings were good, but revenue failed to meet expectations.

Barrick (NYSE:ABX) Exceeds Earnings, Revenue Expectations

As expected, Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX), the largest gold miner in the world, had a great quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations for earnings and revenue.

Earnings for the second quarter reached $759 million, or 77 cents a share. Last year in the same quarter Barrick generated $492 million in profits, or 56 cents a share.

Analysts had been looking for earnings of 72 cents a share on revenue of $2.61 billion. Revenue came in at 2.64 billion, so that was pretty close to expectations, although exceeding them by a little.

Gold production and higher gold prices led the way, even with the increased costs of mining. Gold production increased to 1.9 million ounce, a gain of 4.2 percent.

Guidance remains in place, where production estimates are expected to stay on target, with 7.6 million to 8 million ounces of gold produced in 2010. Cash costs are estimated to be from $425 to $455 an ounce during that time.

The board of directors of Barrick also declared a quarterly dividend of 12 cents a share, an increase of 20 percent over the previous dividend. Annually that translates to 48 cents a share.

Barrick will also move from their existing dividend payout structure of semi-annual to a quarterly payout structure.

Agnico-Eagle (NYSE:AEM) Earnings Reach $100 Million in Second Quarter

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) released its second quarter numbers, and they have a lot to celebrate, as they generated $100.4 million in earnings on revenue of $394.9 million.

Last year in the same quarter the company only had a profit of $1.2 million, or 1 penny a share. Revenue in the second quarter of 2009 reached $133.1 million.

Gross mine profits and increased gold production were the keys to the turnaround, with gold production rising 116 percent in the quarter, while mine profits rose 151 percent.

Chief executive Sean Boyd said in a statement, "Four of the mines are now operating at steady state with the other two in the late stages of optimization.

"Further increases in gold production and lower cash operating costs are expected in the second half of 2010 as we continue to optimize all our mines and focus on driving down the unit costs at our Kittila and Meadowbank mines."

Full year gold production guidance was maintained at from 1 million to 1.1 million ounces.

The average realized price for gold in the quarter was $1,222 an ounce, far above the $962 from 2009.

Augen Gold (CDNX:GLD.V) Postpones Shareholders Meeting on Takeover Fears

The shareholders meeting of Augen Gold (CDNX:GLD.V) has been postponed from July 13, and has been rescheduled for July 23. The cut-off date for proxy votig was also changed to July 21, according to the company.

Irregularities with a number of proxies was the reasoning behind the change, as a large block of shareholders, representing 39 percent of issued and outstanding shares, submitted proxies, naming a director leaving the company as proxy. Others submitted blank proxies as well, generating unsurety as to what they wanted.

The company did say this, “The directors of the company are concerned that the dissident shareholders seek exclusive control of Augen Gold despite representing just 39% of the shares outstanding.”

Evidently the group of shareholders involved had said they might hold their own meeting in an undisclosed location with only them present.

It's hard to believe the company has no idea what the shareholders want other than an attempt to take over the company. Something must have led up to that, and that's what the real story probably is, unless it's just a power grab.

With owning 39 percent of the shares though, it would have made more sense for them to acquire enough shares for control of the company before making their move. Doing it this way is strange indeed, which would seem to be an attempt to draw attention, but so far no message or release has been forthcoming.

AngloGold (NYSE: AU) Commits to Tropicana Gold Project

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE:AU) announced it'll begin working on its Tropicana gold project in Western Australia, now that a deal has been reached with mining companies in Australia over the super tax.

The new so-called resources tax will entail only coal and iron ore, making the company change its mind over the project.

Many mining companies had decided to stop, delay or ignore Australia when they proposed the supertax on miners in the country, which left them with a bad taste in their mouth over the 40 percent tax on profits for raw materials.

After the changes, a spokesman for AngloGold Ashanti said they'll now continue on with the project on the prior schedule it had planned.

AngloGold has a 70 percent stake in Tropicana. The project will produce an estimated 400,000 troy ounces of gold a year starting in 2013.

Gammon Gold (NYSE:GRS) Reduces Production Projections Again

Gammon Gold (NYSE:GRS) is taking a big hit on its production estimates for 2010, as closing the El Cubo project will result in approximately 25 percent less production for the company overall.

This is the second time in 2010 Gammon has had to downwardly revise their production estimates.

Before the turmoil, the mining company had estimated it would produce from 150,000 to 160,000 ounces of gold for the year, and about 6.1 million to 6.85 million ounces of silver.

Now they've lowered those estimates to 100,00 to 110,000 ounces of gold and 4.4 million to 4.95 million ounces of silver.

Rene Marion, Gammon CEO, said they'll focus primarily on their gold-silver Ocampo project in the near term, while increasing the pace of their exploration.

"Management focus for the balance of the year will be on expanding productivity at our Ocampo mine as well as bringing new discoveries into production in 2011 and the acceleration of exploration programs at our properties," said Marion.

Allied Nevada Gold's (AMEX:ANV) Relentless Upward Run Continues

Allied Nevada Gold (AMEX:ANV) over the last year is up almost 300 percent, and they continue on their upward move, finishing an otherwise lackluster week in a big way.

Like most gold miners, they plunged last Monday as traders took their profits from the record-breaking gold prices the week before, and were level through Thursday before the big rebound on Friday, where gold prices were testing record levels once again, although falling short.

Most miners weren't able to recover after the huge hit they took on Monday, and some continued that into Tuesday, although not nearly as bad.

Even so, the continued strength of Allied was able to push them to the positive to end the week, finishing at $22.38 a share.

The 52-week range for Allied Nevada has been $7.27 - $22.92 a share.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) Upgraded by Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS)

Large gold miners have been doing well so far in 2010, and Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) has steadily moved up, capturing the attention of Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), who upgraded the giant gold miner from "Neutral" to "Outperform."

The price target for Barrick was also raised at Credit Suisse, from $47 to $54.

Barrick has had a 52-week range of $30.67 to $48.02, and as of 2:07 PM EDT, was at $45.24, a $0.50 gain, or 1.12 percent increase.

Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) Continues Upward Run

Gold prices continue to break records, and Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) is moving along with them, as the company moved to a new peak on Friday, the third day in a row the company has done that.

Newmont rose to $61.57 as of 2:23 PM EDT, gaining $1.89, or 3.17 percent. The all-time high for the stock is $62.70, which the gold miner is expected to break through, although they could experience a slight correction before they do.

Even though recent news on their Batu Hijau, Indonesian mine wasn't the best, as worse rains then normal have batter the region, causing uncertainty as to whether or not sales from the mine will reach earlier projections.

Newmont shareholders largely ignored the news though, probably considering the significant gold stockpile of the company which they can use to generate sales if gold production drops.

Newmont owns 45 percent of Batu Hijau.

Randgold (NASDAQ:GOLD) Near 52-Week High

Several gold mining stocks are closing in on 52-week highs, including the increasingly popular Randgold Resources (NASDAQ:GOLD).

Randgold jumped to an early start today, climbing quickly by 2 percent, and it has pretty much held there all day.

The gold miner continues to flirt with the $89 mark, going back and forth just under or over it.

It seems the resistance is at about $91, and if the company breaks through there, it could rise up to about $97, or even higher.

of course it'll generally follow the path of the price of gold, and that closed today at $1,220.20, a decline of $12.90.

With that in mind, Randgold had some resilience in the midst of a minor correction over the last couple of days.

Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) Pulls Back

Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) gave up some of its recent gains today, as gold prices in general were down after recent record-breaking prices.

They closed the session in New York at $17.28 a share, a decline of $0.32, or 1.82 percent. They were down further in after hours trading.

This isn't surprising as they're standing near to their 52-week high, and will have downward pressure when temporary downward pressure is exerted on them.

Eldorado is one of the highest producing, low-cost gold miners.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) Falls on Perceived EU Stability

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) dropped in New York today as the perception or temporary response to the possibility the European Central Bank is about to announce plans which will supposedly stabilize the debt markets in the region.

In other words, they're going to throw money at the problem and that will create the illusion for some that everything is okay.

These types of announcements will always temporarily affect gold futures and gold mining companies, but they will always come back once the market digests the irrelevancy of it, and realize throwing trillions at the recession and giant financial companies has done nothing to stimulate the economy, but rather has done far more harm in the long term than otherwise would have been experienced.

These types of actions will only increase the value of gold as a safe haven and protection against inflation, and solid gold mining companies like Barrick Gold will benefit in the long run.

Goldcorp's (NYSE:GG) Solid Low-cost Strategy

Goldcorp's (NYSE:GG) (TSE:G) continues to work on positioning itself as one of the low-cost leaders in the gold mining industry, setting themselves up be profitable in any economic condition.

One of the strategies the company is using to meet those goals is to divest of non-core assets.

This is good foresight by Goldcorp leadership, as the recent findings of the Fortis Bank Nederland/VM Group: Gold Mine Cost Report, Q1 2010, reveals that on average cash cost of gold mining production in the first quarter of 2010 was $544 an ounce, the highest average in the data series. That was also $29 an ounce higher than the previous quarter.

Goldcorp estimates it'll produce about 2.6 million ounces of gold in 2010 at an average cash cost of $350 an ounce, net of by-product credits.