The Vancouver company earned a profit of $26.4 million on $133.5 million in revenues for the year, up 145%, after drilling an astonishing 585,900 meters for minerals and a further 444,400 meters for energy last year.
The Vancouver-based miner gave up another 3% on Monday, bringing its losses over the past trading week to 15% as worries about grades and costs at Oyu Tolgoi – one of the richest copper and gold mines in the world – continue to mount.
Silver moved into the second quarter displaying a pattern investors are likely becoming all too familiar with, whereby the market shows signs of strength at the opening of the week, responds negatively to a midweek disappointment, and attempts to claw its way back with the approach of the weekend.
The source of the surge in mining investment has been quite diverse, reflecting the widespread advance in prices. For 2012, gold leads the way with $3.6 billion of capital spending. But not far behind are copper-nickel-zinc mines at $3 billion, potash at $2.9 billion and iron ore at $2.7 billion as the Labrador Trough is developed.
"We store significant amounts of commodities, for instance silver, on behalf of customers. We operate vaults in New York City, in Singapore and in London. Often when customers have that metal stored in our facilities they hedge it on a forward basis through JPMorgan, which in turn hedges in the commodities market," said Blythe Masters.
Gold dropped more than $57 or 3.4% an ounce in early afternoon trade while ever volatile silver tanked more than 6%. Platinum crashed through the $1,600 an ounce level and palladium fell almost 4%.