big rush on ballarat gold

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19333338%255E664,00.html

Big rush on Ballarat Gold
George Lekakis
02jun06

RECORD trading this week in Victorian gold miner, Ballarat Goldfields, has triggered speculation that a predator may soon launch a takeover for the company.

More than 93 million shares in the listed miner changed hands yesterday -- the highest turnover posted for the stock this year.
Since soaring to a peak of 50 two months ago, shares in the company sagged to a year low of 30 last Friday in the wake of the sudden slide in gold prices.

The company has averaged daily volume of about 6.6 million shares this year, but almost 140 million shares or 12 per cent of the issued stock have been traded this week.

Mystery surrounds the identity of a major buyer who acquired a parcel of 82 million shares yesterday.









The special sale was completed in afternoon trading at a price of 30.5.

Only three institutional shareholders held more than 82 million shares before the market opened yesterday.

That means the seller is likely to have been one of either JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch or US fund manager, Mason Hill Asset Management.

Ballarat Goldfields entered commercial production in December last year after the company secured sole ownership of mining leases for most of the Ballarat region in 2004.

The focus of its operations is an underground development in Ballarat East which is projected to have a mining life of 21 years with average annual production of about 200,000 ounces.

The company reported last month that development of the underground mine was being affected by poor ground conditions in weak fault areas.

However, the company said that it was still on track to reach optimal production targets by the middle of 2008.

Ballarat Goldfields was the most traded stock on the ASX yesterday and closed up 1c at 32c.