Hedge funds’ bullish bets on gold jump to four-year high
Hedge funds and other large speculators boosted their net-long position in gold.
Newmont Mining Corp on Thursday updated its five-year production outlook and said it expects gold production for 2019 to be in the midpoint of its previous forecast.
The Colorado-based miner sees 2019 output at 5.2 million ounces of gold, from an earlier forecast range of 4.9 million ounces to 5.4 million ounces.
The company expects production in 2019 to be driven by its recently completed Subika Underground project in Ghana. The project received an environmental permit to build and operate in March 2017.
The gold miner said its 2019 North America production will be hurt by depletion of Silverstar ore at Carlin mine and lower gold production at Phoenix mine in Nevada. North America production is estimated to be 37 percent of total production in the next year, the company said.
North America production is estimated to be 37 percent of total production in the next year.
Newmont’s all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of producing an ounce of gold in 2019, a closely-watched industry benchmark, is now projected at $935, compared with an earlier estimated range of $870 to $970 per ounce.
Analysts at RBC Dominion Securities said the five-year production outlook is modestly lower than expected, but the AISC was in-line with estimates.
Newmont reported lower third-quarter profit and revenue in October compared to year-ago period, hurt by a drop in bullion and copper prices.
Spot gold fell about 9 percent from a peak in April when gold was trading at around $1,365 per ounce as the U.S.-China trade conflict unfolded against a backdrop of higher U.S. interest rates, denting gold’s appeal.
Shares of the company fell by 2 pct to $32.97.
(Reporting by Shanti S Nair and K. Sathya Narayanan; Editing by James Emmanuel and Shinjini Ganguli)
