Gold Mining in Africa

Will last year's growth continue...?

AFRICA was the region that witnessed the strongest growth in Gold Mining operations last year. In this interview with The Gold Report, Nana Sangmuah, managing director of research with Toronto-based Clarus Securities, explains why he expects that trend to continue.

The Gold Report: Gold consultancy GFMS, which is now owned by Thomson Reuters, recently published its 2012 Gold Survey. GFMS predicts that before the end of 2012, the yellow metal will likely reach above its all-time nominal high of $1,920/ounce (oz) in September 2011. The catalysts include inflation concerns and sovereign debt problems in Europe, especially Spain. What are your thoughts on these predictions and conclusions?

Nana Sangmuah: I agree with those predictions and the drivers. One thing that has been missing from the gold rally is inflation hedge demand. With the significant monetary easing that has occurred to drive a global recovery, inflation is definitely going to be an issue at some point. We haven't seen inflation trade come into gold throughout these 10+ years. That's the strong headwind that is going to move gold to another level. 

TGR: The survey reported that Gold Mining production hit a record high in 2011, rising 2.8% year over year to reach 2,818 metric tons (mt). That marks the second straight year that gold production reached a new all-time high. Does that mean the theory of peak gold is dead?

Nana Sangmuah: Not exactly. If you peel back the data over the past two years, the greater part of this growth has come from mines digging into their stockpiles and people revisiting old resources that previously were thought not to be economic but at these price levels look economic. There have been very few discoveries despite the fact that there's been quite a lot of money spent on the exploration front. 

That rate of increase is not sustainable going forward. It takes on average at least five years to move from discovery into production, so we're looking at a situation where the supply is not going to grow that much. If the investment demand is sustainable going forward, basically there won't be enough ounces to feed that demand.

TGR: The GFMS survey also reported that new gold-mining operations contributed 47 mt of new gold supply, while Africa was the region that witnessed the strongest growth, increasing production by 51 tons (t) despite a 5 t drop in output from South Africa. Do you believe Africa will continue to lead the way in worldwide gold production?

Nana Sangmuah: Certainly. The ground is very favorable, and there are a lot of projects that have only scratched the surface. Even in the more prolific zones, which have seen a lot of Dollars thrown at them, the concentration has just been on open-pit, near-surface mining. In some of these greenstone belts, you can trace mineralization down to more than 2.5 kilometers (km) at depth. As people get more comfortable with the region's politics, more Dollars are going to move in, and certain grounds will be tested. The key is political stability. As commodity prices go up, countries move their fiscal regimes around. 

But I think a lot of countries will smarten up and realize they can attract more investments, which will ultimately generate more revenues to the government if their current regimes are seen to be stable. The Asankrangwa Belt in Ghana is one example. This belt is as old as the Ashanti Belt, but we have just recently seen action on it. So far, within a period of less than three years, 10 Moz have been delineated. Some people would think that certain districts are mature and cannot be coming up with even more discoveries, but that is not true. 

TGR: Mali's interim president said that he wouldn't hesitate to wage "total relentless war" against the Tuareg rebels who have seized much of northern Mali. Do his words make you less bullish on all West African gold producers?

Nana Sangmuah: He's trying to send a strong signal that he's all for maintaining stability in the region. And the regional force, ECOWAS—Economic Community of West African States—acted quickly to prevent this from blowing up. A stabilizing force has made its dominance known in West Africa, which I think is going to foster more stability and get people to be more comfortable investing more Dollars in the region. Access in general has not really been impaired. The borders are open. People can focus on the day-to-day running of businesses and mines. There's the potential for a few situations here and there as they try to push the Tuaregs away. But the Tuaregs' links with al-Qaeda are definitely going to unify the international community against any issues. 

That means that this is not going to drag on for long, and very soon we should see this issue behind us. We've seen similar events before and people have hit the panic button and sold off, but as the situations stabilize, valuations come back strongly. So, I see this as a buying opportunity, and I'll be focusing on assets. If these assets have not been impaired in any way fundamentally, they should be bought at these levels.

TGR: Do you have some parting thoughts on African Gold Mining plays?

Nana Sangmuah: People should continue to focus on the fundamentals. Take advantage of the situation, which will turn around and stabilize, to pick up on names that you missed out on and wait for the disconnect between the commodities and the equities to correct. 

TGR: Thanks for your insights today.

Buying Gold bullion? See how BullionVault can dramatically reduce your costs...