Why Agnico-Eagle (NYSE:AEM) and Eldorado (NYSE:EGO) Are So Attractive

When gold prices continue to break record after record, and the Federal Reserve and Ben Bernanke continue to cooperate by printing more and more money, gold miners like Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) and Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) are great ways to participate in the ongoing gold bull market.

Why companies like Agnico and Eldorado Gold are so good, is they are among the leading companies in controlling costs.

This is important because the more costs are under control, the more flexibility a company has, and the more they're able to profitable operate under conditions where gold prices aren't as high.

Agnico and Eldorado are far from the only gold miners positioned strongly, but they are good examples of well-run companies which should do well in strong and weaker economic conditions.

Those gold miners that are heavily leveraged and don't have solid cost controls in place, will only do well as long as gold prices do well. Once that is over, they could have value drain off extremely quickly.

This isn't to say it is expected anytime soon, but over the long term solid gold companies with operational costs under control will be prepared for whichever way the market goes, and have more opportunities to grab up weakened companies for future growth.

Low debt and low costs will do more for gold investors than just about anything else, all other things, especially gold prices, being equal.

Randgold (Nasdaq:GOLD) Plunges on 39 Percent Increase in Costs

No matter how hard Randgold (Nasdaq:GOLD) Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow tried to deflect attention away from the 39 percent increase in costs, he couldn't do it, and the gold miner took a beating, even though other numbers were decent in their last quarter.

The cost issue came from power outages at their Loulo mine in Mali. That resulted in the cost increases, and in dollars it came to $665 an ounce of gold. Gold price for immediate delivery for the quarter were at $1,196.53 an ounce.

Consequently, gold production in the next quarter had to be downwardly revised, and will come in at best, about 5 percent within the target range of 477,000 ounces.

Bristow said about the Mali situation, “We’re at a point where we have identified the issue. By the fourth quarter we should be settled.”

Net income rose from the $14.9 million last year in the same period, to $34.4 million in the second quarter this year.

Randgold dropped to $86.96, a decline of $3.54, or 3.91 percent.