http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/mixed-signals-bedevil-oil-and-gold/story-e6frg9ex-1226315868907 .... Beware of base BASE metals are causing investors to be very wary at the moment. Speculators are busy, as the determined zinc sell-off late on Friday shows. But J-Francois Bertincourt of Canaccord-BGF thinks copper is going to be red hot this year. There's much stress in the sector: high copper prices ($US8445 a tonne at Friday's close) are delivering good margins, but falling ore grades and the lack of substantial projects due for early commissioning mean miners can't keep up with demand. Meanwhile, both capital and operating costs have risen dramatically in the past 10 years. Together with the depreciating greenback, this has created an environment in which higher copper prices are required to justify the development of new mines. In this context, Bertincourt expects copper to stay within the range of $US7700 a tonne to $US8800 a tonne. His top copper stocks are producers PanAust (PNA) for its dynamic management team and diversification across commodities and countries, Hillgrove Resources (HGO) as it increases producing near Adelaide (and its Indonesian gold-copper targets) and Tiger Resources (TGS) for its Congolese assets now heading for 35,000 tonnes of copper a year. .... Mixed signals bedevil oil and gold by: Robin Bromby From: The Australian April 02, 2012 12:00AM Mixed signals bedevil oil and gold
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