Can Physical Gold Demand Support a Floor?

An article at CNBC was recently run suggesting gold may have hit a floor, citing HSBC, which offers three reasons why that may be the case, including retail demand from India and China, slowdown in exchange-traded fund (ETF) gold liquidation, and continued acquisition of gold by central banks around the world.

In-depth look at how physical gold will affect prices.

Goldman (NYSE:GS) Says Precious Metals Will Lead Commodities in 2011

Talking commodities today concerning 2011, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) said they see precious metals leading the way, with gold reaching $1,690 in 12 months, while livestock performing the worst in the commodity sector.

Over the next year, Goldman sees precious metals rising 28 percent and livestock increasing by only 4 percent.

Goldman said in the report, “Extreme weakness in U.S. demand over the past two years has allowed China to grow unconstrained without any competition for raw materials. This is likely to change in 2011 with a stronger U.S. that is likely to bump up against a China that is consuming dramatically more commodities than pre-crisis.”

In order to cut back on American consumption, commodity prices will probably be pushed up in order to “to make room for further Chinese demand,” according to Goldman.

Precious metals specifically identified as being most affected were platinum and copper, and other commodities to be affected said Goldman, will be soybeans, cotton and crude oil.

As far as gold demand and prices, Goldman concluded, “A low U.S. real interest-rate environment will continue in 2011, particularly given the resumption of quantitative easing measures in the U.S.,” the analysts wrote. “However, as we look toward 2012, we find it timely to reiterate our view that at current price levels gold remains a compelling trade, but not a long-term investment.”

Barrick (NYSE:ABX) Sees $1,500 Gold in 2011

The largest gold mine in the world, Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX), said it sees gold prices in 2011 "easily" surpassing $1,500 an ounce.

Barrick CFO Jamie Sokalsky cites the underlying supports which should ensure gold continues to rise, as the reason for his optimism.

Those supports include the European sovereign debt crisis which won't go away, geopolitical circumstances, macroeconomic issues, and supply and demand.

Taken together, Sokalsky is right, there is nothing to justify believing those issues are going to go away any time soon, and that guarantees the price of gold will continue to go up until it does.

Although Sokalsky didn't point to it specifically, the expected near-future quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve will be another part of the support foundation for gold.

At the London Bullion Market Association meeting, on average those attending believe gold prices will stand at over $1,400 at the same time next year.

As for how Sokalsky likes that potential in reference to Barrick, he sees them positioned strongly to move up with the price increase of gold, saying the elimination of hedges and prices locked in of future production concerning forward sales is good news for the company and shareholders.

Even though cash costs estimates will probably be at the top end because of royalties related to the increase in gold prices, that also will help increase margins for the same reason, with margins versus cash costs growing to over $700 an ounce in the second quarter.

Gold Prices Reaching for New High Today

Gold prices today have soared on the news the so-called stress tests of the European banks probably didn't accurately portray the level of government debt they held.

In mid-day, gold for December delivery increased to $1,261.60. If it were to close at those levels, it would surpass the record high of $1,258.30 an ounce, set on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange in June, which was also the result of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

Gold prices have leveled as the trading session advanced, with spot gold standing at $1,256.80 an ounce as of 1:00 PM EDT, gaining $10.20.

Even if it gold prices don't reach record levels today, one more bit of news like this, or more accurate data as to the real level of the sovereign debt crisis, should push it up and beyond the former record.

Ivanhoe's (NYSE:IVN) Friedland Marketing Up the Company

It's no secret Ivanhoe (NYSE:IVN) is looking for even more financing for its Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, and Ivanhoe Chairman Robert Friedland has been seen a lot in the news lately letting people know about the incredible project they have in Oyu.

He's been making some interesting comments a la Richard Branson to get the Ivanhoe brand stuck in the minds of potential investors.

Even though he was joking, and in reality probably marketing, Friedland made a comment which made the Oyu Tolgoi mine look like it was valued at trillions of dollars, rather than the approximate $16 billion it is known to be worth.

He also mentioned copper outperforming gold recently, citing the dubious claim that 20 years from now cars are going to be electric, and those cars will need copper for the batteries. That was the hook though, the reality is copper will continue to be in high demand over the next 20 years, and that will have nothing to do with electric cars.

Friedland of course knows this, but he is doing the stir the imagination thing in order to have people associate that with Ivanhoe.

But as far as copper outperforming gold, that would have be on enormous volume, as gold prices will shoot up as soon as the U.S. government or Federal Reserve start do their quantitative easing thing, or printing of money. Rumors are they're moving closer and closer to that in light of the economy stalling and elections coming soon.

Seeing that hasn't worked in the past, and we've never left the recession, unless you think the government throwing money into the economy is a real recovery.

That's why there haven't been any jobs created, the private sector is for the most part doing little or no hiring, and then we hear the news reports of the "unexpected" this and "unexpected" that, when talking about economic news that didn't meat expectations.

For Ivanhoe, once production begins at Oyu Tolgoi, you'll see their stock price shoot up even more, as much of this is in anticipation of the money generating real revenue and profits, and not just potential. They're already up over double the last twelve months, and I think Friedland is trying to create interest in order to land the needed partners to forge ahead and work the extraordinary mine.

China Appetite for Gold Increasing as They Battle Property Inflation

The battle by China against property inflation in the first half of 2010 has increased demand for gold in the country, according to the Shanghai Gold Exchange.

For the first half of the year, the amount of gold traded on the exchange increased by 59 percent, equal to about 3,174.5 metric tons.

It's cousin silver also performed much stronger, increasing by five times over last year.

“I expect China’s gold demand to rise by 11 to 12 percent this year to 440 to 450 tons because Chinese investors have shown their willingness to buy more when prices are on the rise,” Hou Huimin, deputy secretary-general at the China Gold Association, said today. “I expect prices will rise over the remainder of this year and next year.."

Song Yuqin, vice general manager at the Shanghai Gold Exchange, said along with property markets, other reasons for the increase in gold investing was the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and the volatility of the financial markets.

Citigroup (NYSE:C): India Gold Demand Down

Indian imports for gold is down, as surging gold prices has cut down on demand for the precious metal, according to Citigroup (NYSE:C).

“Import data indicates that the surge in gold prices during May appear to be taking their toll,” Citigroup economists said in the report. “Although jewelry demand is typically price inelastic, the run-up in prices has begun to hurt consumption.”

Gold acquisitions in the country dropped by over half, as only 16 metric tons to 17 metric tons were purchased in May, plunging from the 34 metric tons acquired in April.

India has been the largest consumer of gold in relationship to jewelry use, although it really hasn't been a factor in gold prices during the year, although in the wedding season it at times can give it a bump up in price.

Economics is what's driving gold prices now, and that's the reason Indian demand for gold is down. That won't be a factor in the price of gold going forward, but a consequence of it.

SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) Offering 239 Million More Shares

SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) has filed with the SEC for a follow-on offering of 239.3 million shares, a huge 57.5 percent increase in shares of the gold ETF.

Shares available now are 416.4 million, and after the offering, would increase to 655.7 million.

This could temporarily dilute the share value in the company, but the extraordinary demand for gold should help balance that off and overall increase the value of the company, and it shouldn't take long for the added number of shares to retain and increase in value.

SPDR ended Thursday session at $118.69, up $0.22, or 0.19 percent.

China Running Out of Gold?

China's Gold Supply

China has increased gold production in the country in a relatively few years to become the largest gold producer in the world in 2007. That surprised everyone at the time because to do it China's output grew at an extraordinary annual rate of 84 percent.

At that rate of production, the question must be raised as to whether China is going to run out of gold any time soon.

If they continue at the production rate they're currently at, China would run out of gold in about six years. That of course assumed no other gold is found and no mines come online.

But it does take time to get mines ready for production, so the supply of gold in China is going to pull back in the near future, and it's something to keep in mind in the years ahead.

One other interesting factor, is demand for gold in China is growing at a rate of about 13 percent annually, with the majority of that being used for jewelry. India has largely been the retail leader in that area for decades, and it didn't have much effect on the prices of gold. But add China retail jewelry demand, and you could have a demand for gold unique in history, as far as the amount of that demand is.

Right around 80 percent of China's demand for gold is from the jewelry industry.

As they get used to investing in gold - which they will because the government is encouraging them in that direction - that will create even great demand with a diminishing supply.

Anyway, we're in for interesting times for gold, and if China does begin to run out of gold, or at minimum assuredly slow down significantly in production, it's anyone's guess as to where the price of gold will go if investment demand continues for years and a significant jewelry demand from China creates a sigificant secondary market for the metal.

Gold Futures Surge on Weak Dollar

Gold Futures, dollar and China demand

Gold future rose by 0.5 percent or $6.10 by the end of trading in New York to finish the session at $1,111.50 an ounce for June delivery.

Along with the weakness of the U.S. dollar, Chinese demand for gold is expected to increase by double over the next decade also helped push the price of gold futures up. Chinese gold demand news was from a report from The World Gold Council, which based their demand assertions on an increased interest in jewelry and of course investment demand for gold.

In 2009 gold demand in China grew to 424 metric tons, with their domestic gold production providing only 314 metric tons of that. With demand growing as it is, they'll continually have to go outside their country for supply, and that should help push gold prices up, even with the usual safe haven and inflation factors not being considered.

Just these factors in China alone provide a solid support for gold prices, and that doesn't include growing interest from institutional investors and those wanting to protect the value of their assets.

Gold futures and China

Gold Prices Will Continue Rising

Gold Prices

News on the street has been a number of investors are allegedly believing gold is experiencing a bubble, and so it may be time to get out and take some profits. I don't believe that's true.

The reason I said allegedly above is because of the possibility that speculators who did in fact believe gold prices would fall shorted the market, and so now that they've been getting clobbered over the last couple of months, could be attempting to communicate the gold bubble idea in order to create a self-fulfilling prophecy which they could financially benefit from.

A gold bubble isn't what is moving the price of gold up, but the incredibly ignorant moves of the Obama administration is what's moving the prices, as the inevitalbe inflation coming from the spending of trillions still is generating investment in gold, and that isn't going to end any time soon.

When a bubble happens in any investment sector, it's when the general public finally catches wind of what's going on and stampedes like a herd of cattle toward that investment when prices start to surge based on speculation and ignorance, and not market and economic forces. That's not what's driving gold prices up, and until it is, we're going to continue to see gold prices rise for a long time to come.

Gold Prices

Gold News | Gold Prices Rise As Investors Look to Increasing Demand

Gold News

Optimism about the economy showed through in the commodities markets recently as investors sent prices for gold, oil and grains higher on the belief that demand for basic materials will soon rebound. I think they're right, although no one can predict the timing of any market.

There is "a general feeling that maybe we're starting to stabilize here in terms of the economy," said Stephen Platt, an analyst with Archer Financial Services in Chicago. "There is some hope that the demand might come back."

Surprisingly positive data on the jobs market renewed hopes that the economy is recovering. The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of unemployed workers continuing to receive benefits unexpectedly dropped last week for the first time in 20 weeks. New jobless claims also declined, falling to 621,000 from 625,000, nearly matching analysts' estimates.

Unemployment has been one of the most closely watched gauges of the economy's health throughout the recession. Rising job losses affect vast areas of the economy, including consumer spending, retail sales and the housing market. The report came a day ahead of the government's crucial tally of monthly job losses.

A slightly weaker dollar also helped spur buying of commodities, particularly gold and oil. A weaker dollar makes both gold and oil attractive investments. By buying gold, investors insulate themselves from the risks of inflation, while oil becomes cheaper for foreign buyers when the dollar falls.

On Thursday, the dollar traded mostly lower against other major currencies as central banks in Europe made the decision to keep their benchmark interest rates at historically low levels, signaling a cautious stance on the economy.

Low interest rates are a tool governments often use to revitalize the economy by lowering borrowing costs, but they can also undermine a country's currency. The Federal Reserve also has kept its benchmark interest rate very low — near zero — as it works to boost the U.S. economy, which has put pressure on the dollar.

The dollar has declined steadily since early March as the outlook on the economy improves. This leads investors to look for more traditionally risky assets like stocks in which to park their money.

Gold for August delivery rose $16.70 to $982.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, erasing nearly all of the previous day's 2 percent loss.

Other metals also rose. July silver jumped 58.5 cents to $15.8950 an ounce, while July copper futures added 8.9 cents to $2.3010 a pound.

Gold News

Gold Investors Seeking Haven and Profits

Now that much of the forced liquidation seems to have left the market, gold is starting to perform like the haven of safety usually has in tough economic times, and gold investors and regular investors are flooding to the market to not only be safe, but make some money from gold and its rising prices. Consequently, the U.S. dollar is starting to act like it really is with its poor underlying fundamentals, which had been hidden by the forced liquidation period pushing up its value as funds and companies sought to raise desperately needed capital.

Gold investors should be able to put their money into any well run gold producer this year and do well, along with investing in gold futures, which will continue to run up. Other gold investments set to do well will be gold ETFs, which with the larger companies are saying they're having no problem acquiring the needed gold to line up with investors' demand.

On the other hand, some gold coin sellers have said with some coins they're having trouble meeting specific demand, saying they have waiting lists into the weeks. Either way, gold in general will continue to perform strongly in safety and price, and gold investments won't disappoint this year in any way.

Even though gold was one of the better performers last year, the temporary resurgence of the U.S. dollar kept it from moving upwards when it should have been. That performance is about to rise again for gold, consistent with its usual consistency and price increase.

The huge amount of money pushed in the stimulus packages are starting to concern investors - as it should - and they see the U.S. dollar will start to gradually collapse under the mighty force of the fiat money printing press, which is the only way it will be able to be paid off. But that will lead to inflationary pressures, which will again push traders and investors toward gold.

What remains to be determined is how long it will take, not whether the time arrives. But either way, gold is going to break out again this year, and most analysts are forming a consensus that gold will push past the $1,000 barrier before 2009 is finished. And I think they're right.

Inflation is being held in check from the fact that people have stopped buying things or traveling much, holding down energy prices for now. That will change as the general economic struggles improve some, but then inflation will surge forward, which will benefit gold prices and gold traders and investors as well. Gold futures will continue to rise for some time to come, even if it's a bumpy ride at times.

The current record for gold is at $1,030.80 an ounce, recorded in March 2008, and that has a real possibility of being broken this year, depending of course on the pace the economy falters and havens of safety diminish.

Goldman Sachs (GS) has even increased its forecast for gold prices to reach the $1,000 an ounce range within a short three months, saying the demand for safety is increasing far beyond what it thought it would. Formerly they thought it reach only about $700 an ounce.

Every possible way of buying gold is in demand, from holding it physically, to futures contracts to investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). All of it is being brought about from safety and inflation risks in the market.

Physical gold has been in huge demand as the unbelievable and unprecedented and foolish bailouts have committed the government to far more money than it has to spend, and could virtually destroy the value of the U.S. dollar and bring it to be a very weak currency, the reason for the migration toward owning gold coins, which in a number of cases is taking longer and longer to fulfill orders.

Some of the gold producers from North America that have been recently upgraded by UBS because of gold as a haven of safety are UBS upgraded Agnico Eagle Mines (AEMO) (AEM), Barrick
Gold (ABX) (ABX.TO), Eldorado Gold Corp (ELD.TO), Newmont Mining (NEM) and Goldcorp Inc (GG) (G.TO) to "buy" from "neutral."

For Centerra Gold (CG.TO) and Franco-Nevada (FNV.TO) UBS retained its buy rating and target prices for the gold companies.

Moving quickly to take advantage of the volatile market, the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust said its current gold inventory is at its highest levels, now standing at 859.49 tons. A huge increase in just a couple of days from 6.12 tons of gold it held on February 2.

One interesting factor in the overall gold picture is whether Barack Obama will get his almost $900 billion economic stimulus package passed. If he does, gold should skyrocket, if he doesn't, it should climb based on fundamentals alone, but it may not rise nearly as projected with the stimulus plan factored into the prices. The gold bulls would be slower to move it up, although there aren't many safe places to put their money regardless. The stimulus package would just make it happen much quicker, as a sense of urgency would settle in.

There's no doubt that gold futures and most other companies and ETFs related to gold will rise with it in 2009. With few havens of safety left, gold, and its cousin silver should flourish during these tough economic times, and gold investors will flourish with them.

World Gold Council: Gold Investment Digest Report - 2008

World Gold Council report of gold performance for 2008

NEW YORK & LONDON - (Business Wire) Gold proved its metal in 2008, according to World Gold Council’s latest Gold Investment Digest, providing a safe haven and long term store of value for investors in record volume and outperforming many other assets in relative price and volatility terms.

Despite one of the most tumultuous years in financial markets since the Great Depression, gold ended the year on a firm footing recording its eighth consecutive annual price increase. The last three months of 2008 was a quarter of two halves. While distressed gold sales by some institutional investors meeting margin calls on other assets had a dampening effect on price in the first few weeks of the final quarter, by mid November broader recognition that the dire financial situation was likely to endure for some time, fears about the credit system and future inflationary impact of shifts in monetary policy and the dollar resuming its secular decline led gold to rally by around $150/oz. Gold, therefore, closed the year at US$869.75.oz, up 4% from the same period in 20071.

Gold price volatility remained high by historical standards at the end of the year, at 37% (gold’s long-run price volatility is around 12.5%), although still below most other asset classes. However, underpinned by robust and diverse market fundamentals, gold traded in a tighter range than other financial assets, major world indices and most other commodities.

“Gold’s performance over the year is impressive considering the massive wealth destruction that took place elsewhere in financial and commodities markets,” said Natalie Dempster, Head of Investment, North America for World Gold Council. “Impacted to a lesser extent by the financial crisis, which affected equities, and declining industrial demand, which affected physical assets, gold outperformed global equities and all major commodities during 2008.”

During the final quarter, investors turned to physical-backed gold ETFs in large numbers, buying 96 tonnes of incremental gold via exchange trade funds. December recorded the strongest monthly inflow into gold ETFs, with investors buying 44 tonnes of gold. Investment in gold ETFs, monitored by the World Gold Council, now stands at around US$33 billion2.

“As investors became increasingly concerned by the state of the economy during the course of the year, they turned to gold as a store of value. Within the third and fourth quarters of 2008, inflows into gold ETFs reached record levels as investors were motivated by gold’s lack of counterparty risk and the opportunity to hold a real, physical asset,” Dempster said. “As we move into 2009, continued uncertainty over the financial landscape, combined with future inflationary fears resulting from interest rates cuts and quantitative easing by central banks, are likely to pique investor interest in gold further.”

Gold Investment Digest, a concise and comprehensive analysis of investment trends and economic indicators that influence investment interest in and the demand for gold, can be downloaded at www.gold.org. Users will need to register, which is free of charge. At the same address, users can access a range of investment statistics, which we have completely overhauled to extend the country coverage and make the materials easier to download. For further information, or should you like to learn more about investment in gold, please contact:

Notes to Editors:

World Gold Council

World Gold Council (WGC), a commercially-driven marketing organization, is funded by the world’s leading gold mining companies. A global advocate for gold, WGC aims to promote the demand for gold in all its forms through marketing activities in major international markets. For further information visit www.gold.org.


World Gold Council’s latest Gold Investment Digest concludes 2009 should result in increased gold demand.

GFMS Looks for Gold to Surge in Second Half of 2009

While gold could average around $915 an ounce in the first part of 2009, it's in the second half that it could really soar, according to consultancy GFMS in its Gold Survey 2008 report. They project gold could reach as high as $1,080 an ounce as the U.S. dollar inevitably weakens. (Why the U.S. dollar will plunge in 2009.)

The average price of gold in 2008 was just under $872. Today gold was trading over $816 at 4:30 EST.

For the year, GFMS is looking for a trading range for gold of $750 an ounce to $1,080an ounce.

There's no doubt gold will rebound, as the bubble will burst sometime in the year for U.S Treasury bonds, which are wrongly being touted as havens of safety. Click on the link above to find out why that's so.

Because we don't have any idea how much more forced liquidation is out in the market, it's the one variable that could allow the U.S. dollar to remain temporarily strong, as companies continue to sell assets to cover their losses and raise cash.

Even though demand for gold in jewelry fell by almost 11 percent last year, that shouldn't have any impact on the price of gold, as safety and inflation protection will be the driving forces pushing the yellow metal up.

With the Federal Reserve going to be forced to print more money to cover the misguided bailout-mania and acquisition of Treasury bonds, that will also eventually push the strength of the U.S. dollar down and drive people toward gold. It's only a matter of when, not if.

Hunt Gold Corporation: Company Updates Stockholders on Developments

NEW YORK, NY, Nov 03, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Hunt Gold Corporation (PINKSHEETS: HGLC) updates its tockholders on the Company's progress on various key issues:

-- The Company confirms that its plans for drilling are being expedited on portions of its "Mockingbird" Gold Mining property in Arizona. To this end, the Company has initially targeted and located drill sites for 7 to 8 drill holes at the "Great West," "Pocahontas" and "Dandy" mines which form part of the "Mockingbird" Gold Mining property. Geochemical and Geophysical work is being overseen at these sites at this time to assist in the identification of the drill targets. It is envisaged that we intend to commence with 1,000 feet of core drilling at this time.

-- These drill sites are not located on State Land and permits are only required from the BLM. These permits will be filed shortly and upon final identification of the intended drill sites. The BLM permits are not expected to take more than 15 days to obtain the necessary approvals. The Company is finalizing the details with various drilling contractors at this time and is very confident that this initial drilling will commence by late November, 2008.

-- The Company has sufficient working capital to expedite and commence with this initial drilling and to drastically increase its drilling as is required and dependent upon drill results.

-- The Company has no intentions of raising any additional cash at this time, to fund its exploration; and is securing an initial US$5 million in traditional bank finance to expedite exploration plans for the first quarter of 2009. The Company's stock price does not in any way affect the Company's plans whatsoever and no placement of shares of the Company's Common Stock is being contemplated whatsoever. The Company will be securing this funding through a Mortgage over the title of the Mockingbird Gold Mine. The Lender will have no recourse to Hunt Gold Corporation in respect of this Loan as the Mockingbird Gold Mine is held by a subsidiary company of Hunt Gold Corporation. The Company will be drawing upon this facility as funds are required and expects to finalize this Mortgage at prevailing interest rates. Given prevailing low interest rates and our Company's undervalued stock price; the Management of your Company has elected to borrow the funds required through traditional Mortgage Finance over an issue of
shares for cash. This strategy will remain unchanged in respect of the working capital financing requirements of all of our Gold Mining properties until such time as our stock price correct itself to its net asset value.

-- The Company has been extremely fortunate to secure the services of additional full time Geologists and other Mining specialists; which are facilitating and are now "fast tracking" (a) the Company's physical exploration work and (b) The completion of the Industry Standard Mining Reports and valuations on all of the Companies Gold Mining & Exploration properties. The ompany has the necessary expertise "on site" at this time and at the various targeted drill sites.

-- The Company is acutely aware of the unwarranted and substantial fall in its stock price of late and comments as follows:

The Company has never been in a stronger position than it is at this time and the Company's stock is trading at a very substantial discount to its actual provable and tangible value; and The Company is commencing physical exploration without any delays which will further serve to increase the value of the Company; and Management of your Company is extremely bullish on the prospects for Gold and on the prices for Gold in the short to long term; and The Company has a strong and very highly experienced Mining Team which is complemented by the necessary experts retained by the Company on a full time basis and others on a Consultative basis; and Certain of the Company's Gold Mining properties have Proven Reserves and have completed bankable feasibility studies. This coupled with the fact that certain of the Company's Gold Mining properties are historic producers; has placed the Company is a very strong position in terms of its Net Asset Value and its ability to secure traditional bank finance to fund operations; and The Company is completing the sale of its "non gold" assets, being its Molybdenum interests. This commodity has become very important as demand for moly is tied to demand for steel used in the petroleum industry (e.g. drill pipe, pipeline construction), which will benefit from accelerated petroleum exploration and development in an era of high oil prices. These assets held through your Company's, American Molygold Corporation; the sale proceeds of these assets this will create a windfall for our Company's stockholders in the first quarter of 2009; and This Company, unlike many other Gold Exploration Companies has no need to raise cash to fulfill its objectives.

-- The Company sees absolutely no reason to effect any Reverse Split of the Company's shares of Common Stock and has absolutely no intention of doing so. Management of the Company is now extremely confident that the Company's stock price will recover and fast without any
Stock Split being necessary.

This will be achieved through an aggressive "Investor Awareness Campaign" to introduce the Company and its Management to Investors, the release of the Reports on the Company's Gold Mining Assets, its true valuations; this being coupled with the commencement of the physical drilling and exploration of the Company's Gold Mining properties, with the immediate targeted
drilling sites being exploited and commencing this month with weekly results being announced to investors; resulting in tangible results being made available to our stockholders.

-- Your Company's Management is urgently reviewing its Public and Investor Relations equirements and is extremely confident that it will be in a position to report back to stockholders this week as to the necessary and urgent steps being taken by your Company's Management to rectify this problem. Your Company's Management realizes that resolution of this issue is key to Company's success and will in all likelihood result in an immediate and very positive effect its stock price as Investors will then be in a position to easily access key Company data which will enable them to assess the Company and its merits.

-- Your Company is at this time completing its Audited Financial Statements and Management can guarantee stockholders that Company will be filing the requisite documentation in order to become a "Reporting Company" with the SEC. Once achieved, we will be seeking a quotation
on the OTC BB. Your Company's Management wishes to place on Record its outlook for Gold over the coming months and years; this being a key issue for any investors in Gold Mining and Exploration Companies: It is our view that Gold mining companies have spent nowhere near
what their counterparts in base metals have poured into new operations and this, along with other fundamentals, will kick gold back up to $1,000/oz. The gold industry, from a production
perspective, is in crisis. In the last seven years, there's been a reduction production capacity. It is expected that we will see another five years of decline in this industry, with the estimated
rate of decline is around three percent a year for the next five years. We expect to see the fundamentals fully assert themselves. On a fundamentals basis, the industry is not investing enough in future production. As a consequence, you'll also see increasing cost pressures on those operations going deeper, increasing strip ratios; mine grades have dropped 30% over the last five years. On fundamentals, we believe the gold price will be strong and certainly we've been encouraged in the fact it's performed relatively well through the current crisis. In the industry we are seeing a structural break and we believe the fundamentals will drive where the price goes. The gold price has been driven by movements in the dollar, the oil price and inflation fears. It has also been driven by investment flows as people look for a safe haven for their cash in times of turbulence. It could be within the next month, the next three months or only within six months that we'll see the fundamentals fully assert themselves and again move towards the $1,000 an ounce target which we see as long-term sustainable. Stockholder enquiries should be directed to the Company's E Mail address in the interim whilst the Company assesses its immediate objective of the appointment of the appropriate Investor and Public Relations company to interact with our stockholders and whilst the Company implements its "Investor Awareness Campaign." The Company's Corporate web site, upon its completion, will be extremely detailed and will provide the answers to large number of stockholder and investor questions. It is guaranteed that this web site will go "live" very shortly and stockholders
may rest assured that its Management is fully aware of the urgency in the expediting of this web site.


ABOUT HUNT GOLD CORPORATION

Hunt Gold Corporation is a Gold Mining & Exploration Company focused on the development and exploration of its Gold properties, namely "Mockingbird," "Ambassador," "Golden Eagle," "Gladstone Lookout," "Lady Alde," "Lookout Silver," "Starlight," "American Flag," "Venezia," "Stormcloud," "Cherry," "Buffalo Limecap," "Red Cloud" and "Federal." The Company has completed the sale of its "American Molygold" interests and will be distributing the entire sale proceeds through a Stock Dividend to its stockholders, this to be announced shortly.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may," "future," "plan" or "planned," "will" or "should," "expected," "anticipates," "draft," "eventually" or "projected." You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a companies' annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the SEC.

For further information contact:

Hunt Gold Corporation
E Mail: Email Contact
Telephone: (954) 840-6956
Contact: Mr. Michael G Saner



SOURCE: Hunt Gold Corporation


Copyright 2008 Market Wire, All rights reserved.

Newmont Mining Corp. Third-quarter Profits Fall by over 50 Percent

Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) released its third-quarter profits on Wednesday, and said profits plunged by over 50 percent, as shipment of gold and copper declined and production cost rose.

The world's second-largest gold miner had overall revenue drop by 13.9 percent to $1.39 billion.

For the quarter net income fell to $196 million, a huge plunge from the $397 million the company enjoyed a year ago. Share price also fell from 88 cents a share to 43 cents a share during that same time period.

Also falling significantly was income from continuing operations, which last year stood at 73 cents a share, and in the third quarter dropped to 39 cents a share.

Another problem the company has is the challenges related to costs in developing its Western Australia Boddington project, which Newmont thought would be ready for operation sometime in the middle of 2009. Original projections were for 600,000 to 700,000 ounces of gold to be produced on average over a five-year period.

Most mining companies will continue to suffer until the forced liquidation period coming from the tight credit market is over. Until then, this will be the story for mining companies across the board.

Gold Falls for Second Straight Day on Institutional Sell-off and Strong Dollar

Even though gold futures plummeted for the second straight day, falling $27.50 for December delivery, they still managed to finish the week in positive territory, ending up by close to 3.1 percent. It settled at $859 on the Comex division of the NYMEX. It had went as high as $936.30 earlier in the session before plunging later in the day.

Part of the reason for the decline over the last two days has been institutional investors selling off their positions in order to secure needed cash.

The other obvious reason was the strength of the U.S. dollar, which has been putting downward pressure on the metal.

Royal Canadian Mint Says Ready for Gold Bullion Coin Demand

We talked yesterday about the inability of some gold products to keep up with the demand, as a number of coins are being suspended until production can catch up.

There's been a surge in the acquisition of physical gold coins as uncertainty in the financial sector has caused people to look for safety; not just investment safety, but an alternative currency in case things completely fall apart.

So even though the American Buffalo 24-karat gold one-ounce bullion coin has been suspended, the Royal Canadian Mint says it's not suspending its gold coin production at this time.

Coin dealers all across North America have reported a big surge in the demand for gold coins as the financial markets continue to flirt with disaster.

While the Royal Canadian Mint may eventually have to suspend some operations, they're in a much better position than their American counterparts because of the abundance of gold in Canada. That makes them less dependent on outside suppliers.

They control their mint from digging it out of the ground to striking the coins.

Gold Bullion Dealers Say There's Shortage in Many Popular Bullion Products

Demand for gold bullion has resulted in a shortage in a number of popular products for bullion dealers. The shortage, which has been rumored for about a month, has now become a reality, although it's hopeful that it's temporary.

The shortage has had a significant impact on dealers, as some now have a lengthening waiting list. Some dealers who have policies of not taking orders for a product unless they have physical possession or guaranteed delivery from reliable sources of the metal have been hit especially hard.

To get an idea of the demand, most dealers have had about five times the usual orders in the last two weeks because of concerns over the faltering U.S. economy.

Some of the gold products not available at this time are the Pamp 1-ounce and 10-ounce gold bars; 5-9s special edition Maple Leaf; 1-ounce gold Eagles; and gold Buffalo coins. The U.S. mint is no longer taking orders for the Buffalo coin at this time. Gold Eagles are still being produced, but at such a slow rate that most retailers can't get hold of them.