Glamis Gold recently sold a Chilean copper property obtained from its acquisition of Rayrock Resources for $20 million in cash. The Company now has about $1 per share in cash. The balance sheet is now very clean with its cash position and lack of long-term debt.
The Company has disclosed that
it has hedged about 32% of its 2000 production forward at an average of
$289/oz.. Major shareholders seem to have pressured Management
to hedge when gold tanked, so they took a moderate approach. Although we
would like to see no hedging, this level is manageable. It still leaves 68%
unhedged. The Company should have no trouble fulfilling its commitment, as it
will simply deliver into its forward contracts and the option positions are said
to be market neutral.
Glamis is scheduled to open its San Martin Mine in Honduras in June. The
ore will be heap leached, so stacking and leaching should be followed by gold
production during the fourth quarter of this year. Cash production costs will be
in the area of $150 per ounce.
It is projected to produce 80,000 ounces per year.
This new, low cost production will be very profitable at current prices.
The Company’s cash position and new
low cost production make it a take- over candidate. A reasonable buyout price
would be in the $4+ range, a premium to recent highs.
With or without a buyout , we continue believe the stock is an excellent
value with its cash position and production. There are also prospective
properties to be developed in Guatemala and Panama. They have existing
production in the USA. One property in the Imperial Valley of California. is
currently going through the arduous permitting process.
In general, we continue to like the fundamentals of the gold market. It
has withstood the concerted efforts of Central Banks to keep the price down.
Imagine if OPEC tried to keep prices down. The Central Banks have a
similar ability to control the gold market.
Crude oil is hitting new highs, traders are talking about gasoline
shortages and copper is up about 30% from last year’s lows. People on the east
Coast are seeing their heating oil bills double from last year. The
situation is becoming strangely reminiscent of the 70’s. Cash is sloshing
around all over the place. Health insurance rates are going through the roof and
I hear that no amount of money can buy a house in Marin County, just
north of San Francisco. People are searching for new ways to spend money. In New
York City, people are sending their dry cleaning to Paris. Insiders, who seem to
be doing nothing but figuring out how to sell their stock, are cashing in
hundreds of millions of dollars.
Finally, the US Treasury (a political organization) is slugging it out
with the Federal Reserve (supposedly a non-political organization). On the same
day the FED is trying to increase interest rates, the Treasury is making moves
to lower rates. The Bond Market is being whipsawed all over the place.
We see interesting times ahead. If any of this excess cash finds its way into the gold market, we could be looking at gold.com. The entire market cap for all the gold stocks in the world is about the size of ISLD and AKAM, combined. Let’s hope that inflation doesn’t get out of hand, but a little protection at this point would seem to be advisable.