Gold profits fall for mining company - Thursday 15th May 2008

One of South Africa's biggest gold producers has announced that its profits have fallen, which may point to a good opportunity for gold investment.

Bloomberg reports that Gold Fields, the country's second largest producer of the precious metal, has recorded a drop in revenue of 36 per cent due to reduced sales and other negative factors which have occurred recently.

These include power cuts which plagued the industry in January and the accident which killed nine workers at the South Deep mine on May 1st.

It is thought that the fatalities could negatively affect gold output in the mine for as much as three months. The government is investigating whether to allow the continuing use of such mines.

This could be of interest to those looking to buy gold, as it marks another incident in a steady stream of declining supply worldwide.

"The problem they now have is the safety issue. There isn't going to be a fast turnaround," said Duane Cable, a resource analyst at South Africa's Coronation Fund Managers, according to Bloomberg.

Gold Fields group employs around 47,000 people across its operations.




Goldbug, 15 May '08

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