the big business of gold in the Dominican Republic
Dominican negotiators of the contract did not anticipate that gold would reach the current price.
State would receive only US$ 32 Million per year for US$ 1,000 Million exported Gold
Dominican negotiators of the contract for the exploitation of gold from sulfide of ¨Pueblo Viejo¨ never thought gold prices were to reach the levels where they are today.
For this reason the country would receive in the first seven years of operation of the mine only $ 32 million a year for exports worth 1,000 million.
This was recognized by the economist Iván Rodríguez, who helped negotiate the contract with Placer Dome which later was transferred to Barrick Gold. This recalls that when the contract was negotiated the price of gold was between 200 and 250 dollars the troy ounce, while higher prices were expected that gold reached up to US$ 450.
Today gold prices in spot and future market reached record levels, boosted by the sale of 200 tonnes of gold made by the International Monetary Fund.
Yesterday gold was quoted at US$ 1079.40 an ounce from US$ 1059.15 on Monday afternoon in New York. Earlier, the precious metal reached a record of US$ 1080.60.
Although it was for the Dominican negotiators certainly an unexpected dimension where the price levels of gold has reached, it is likely that for Placer Dome and Barrick Gold then was not surprised the behavior of the metal in international markets …..
for more information’s visit this spanish site: Sancocho con dulce de leche
Update 10th of November 2009:
Congressman defends contract between Barrick Gold and Dominican state.
10/11/2009 – El Nuevo Diario
SANTO DOMINGO – The President of the Special Commission of the Chamber of Deputies who studied the lease agreement between the Dominican State and the Canadian company Barrick Gold, defended the work of legislators in approval.
Ramon Cabrera explained that the contract guarantees an investment of 3 billion pesos (84 million dollar) and generate about 5 thousand jobs. The company will pay around 374 million dollar to heal environmental damage.
The contract of the mining rights to mine gold, silver, copper and zinc in Pueblo Viejo, Cotui, signed in 2002 between the Dominican Government and the Canadian company Placer Dome, is being amended by requirement of the mining company Barrick Gold, which in 2006 bought all rights to the Pleasure Dome.
According to Article 8 of the original agreement, Placer Dome will pay the state a tax in base of Net Profit Sharing (PUN) which varies between 5% and 25%, dependent on the selling price of gold, unless a production cost of $ 275 per ounce.
Barrick Gold Results Beat Analyst Estimates on Cost Containment
Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) — Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, reported third-quarter results that beat most analysts’ estimates because of efforts to contain costs.
Profit excluding a $5.7 billion charge to eliminate fixed- price contracts and a one-time impairment expense was 54 cents a share, Toronto-based Barrick said today in a statement. That topped the 46-cent average estimate of 23 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Gold futures in New York climbed 17 percent to $1,030.50 an ounce this year through yesterday, while the 16-company Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold & Silver Index rose 25 percent. The precious metal, which reached a record $1,072 on Oct. 14, has risen for eight straight calendar years.
Barrick repeated its forecast for 2009 gold production of 7.2 million to 7.6 million ounces at total cash costs of $450 to $475 an ounce. The company expects gold output to rise to 7.7 million to 8.1 million ounces next year, helped by the scheduled start of new production at the Cortez Hills project in Nevada next year. Barrick produced 7.66 million ounces of gold last year at average total costs of $443 an ounce.
On Oct. 12, Barrick agreed to pay Xstrata Plc $465 million for a 70 percent stake in the El Morro copper and gold mining project in Chile.
Barrick started building its $3 billion Pascua-Lama mine project on the Chile-Argentina border after the two countries resolved a tax dispute. The mine is forecast to yield as much as 800,000 ounces of gold annually after it starts operations in 2012.
The gold miner began production at its Buzwagi mine in Tanzania in May. The Pueblo Viejo project in the Dominican Republic is scheduled to start production in the fourth quarter of 2011.
read the full story: Barrick Gold Results Beat Analyst Estimates on Cost Containment
o
06/12/2009 at 14:11
Barrick to work on mine despite court ruling
Toronto.– Global mining giant Barrick Gold Corp. will continue work on a massive gold mine project in Nevada even though a U.S. court of appeals ordered more environmental analysis on the mining project, a company spokesman said Friday.
Vincent Borg said work will continue on its new $500 million Cortez Hills mine a day after a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit granted an injunction to force Barrick Gold to postpone digging a 2,000-foot deep open pit at the mine.
The appeals court ruling will be interpreted by a Nevada District Court, which will determine what action, including any suspension of operations, may be required to respond to the decision of the U.S. court of appeals.
The project is located on Mount Tenabo, about 250 miles east of Reno. Borg said that work on the mine will proceed at least until a possible suspension of activities is ordered by the District Court or a further appeal ruling is rendered.
In reversing an earlier ruling, the three judges in San Francisco said the U.S. Bureau of Land Management failed to adequately analyze the mine’s potential to pollute the air with mercury emissions and dry up scarce water resources in Nevada’s high desert.
The native tribes in Nevada sued Barrick to stop expansion of the mine near a sacred site. The federal appeals court has directed a lower court to consider appropriate relief for native tribes who want the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to do additional environmental analysis of the mining development.
Barrick began construction in January on the mine, which would be one of the largest open-pit, cyanide heap leach gold mines in the United States.
Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic is expected to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2011; Pascua-Lama on the border between Argentina and Chile, expected to begin production in the first quarter of 2013; and Buzwagi in Tanzania, which began production in May and is on track to produce 200,000 ounces this year.