Yeh Parrot, I was going to leave your response alone, as it...

Yeh Parrot, I was going to leave your response alone, as it would suit my purpose to do so; but......

Hedge - Irrelevant as a risk management instrument = agreed for all the very good reasons you have stated.

Hedge - Irrelevant in terms of a drag on earnings = disagree.

From the quarterly "A total of 15,849 ounces were sold into forward contracts at A$1,360 per ounces with the remainder of
September Quarter sales at spot for an average realised gold price of $1,435 per ounce. As at 30
September, Integra had 62,142 ounces of forward sales commitments at a price of A$1,360 per ounce."

Now the drag is only on near term earnings and as pointed out in the quarterly the committed ounces tails off in Q2 CY2012.

I can’t conclude that it is the hedge book alone which is why punters prefer the other goldies but cannot dismiss it as being irrelevant.