With the price of gold floating at a seven-year peak amid predictions of even higher levels to come, 400-plus stock analysts and investors attending Denver Gold Forum 2003 were offered a steady stream of optimistic reports from 60 of the gold industry's production and royalty companies. From QGX Ltd., a junior active in gold exploration in Mongolia and probably the smallest company to present at the forum; to global powers such as Newmont, Barrick and AngloGold, a common thread of confidence in gold's most recent comeback served as an informal theme for the event. Much of the gold and stock markets' recent beneficence seems to have accrued to the ranks of intermediate producers, with more than a half-dozen companies in this category reporting almost identical balance sheets featuring little or no debt and between 100 million dollars and 200 million dollars in cash, not to mention a handful of promising properties in their portfolios. As one of the forum's session chairmen noted, the focus of growth within the industry has shifted from consolidation through merger or acquisition to organic development --- but, considering the number of attractive candidates on display at this year's forum, that trend could reverse rapidly as majors look for quick solutions to their annual reserve-replacement challenges.
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