Gold miners were caught in an ugly slide in the S&P/TSX Composite Index today, which shed 215 points in reaction to another poor economic report coming out of the US.
In the largest single-day selloff in two months, the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index was down 3.6% while the Global Mining Index fared no better, off 2.83%.
Canadian gold producer Eldorado Gold (TSX:ELD; NYSE:EGO) slid 4.6% despite positive financial and production data from its first quarter.
Fresh from the acquisition of European Goldfields in February, ELD said it produced more gold at lower cost than the year-ago quarter- 155,535 ounces at cash costs of $452/oz.
The company credited higher gold prices for a 24% increase in revenues and a 40% lift in earnings from gold mining operations. Profit attributable to shareholders was $67 million.
“With the addition of two gold development projects in Greece and one gold development project in Romania, the acquisition of European Goldfields is a key milestone in the Company’s plans to reach its annual production target in excess of 1.5 million ounces of gold by 2016,” said President and CEO Paul Wright.
Eldorado operates in China, Turkey, Greece and Brazil.