The below is from an interview with James Turk. I too was...

The below is from an interview with James Turk. I too was seriously thinking of SGW until I read this today. The interview took place on the 9-9-2002. Unless he is totally out of reality and soemone can research their hedge book, James makes quite a statement on our overall gold market.

Australia has a few problem Gold stocks on the home front due to their own hedging positions. The excerpt below is from James Turk (advisor to GATA). Remember Ashanti and Cambior?

Q: What don't you like?

A: I don't recommend any Australian stocks
now, simply because their hedge positions are
underwater. Newcrest Mining is one pan; its
hedge book is negative US$440 million. But my
top pan is Australia's Sons of Gwalia. It has
a US$340 million unrealized loss on its hedge
book and is relatively more hedged than
Newcrest, and its properties aren't as good.

Q: Are they at risk of bankruptcy?

A: There are two points of view. Some will
argue that they don't risk bankruptcy because
eventually they're going to produce the gold.
In theory, that's true, as long as there's no
operating problems. But they may receive
pressure from the banks because the banks
don't want the companies to carry these huge
unrealized loss positions in the event of a
disruption in the production of the gold. In
1999, when gold rallied, we saw two mining
companies -- Ashanti and Cambior -- go
bankrupt in everything but name. Their hedged
positions killed them. They were selling
aggressively on the way down and got caught
when gold rose to more than $300 an ounce.
Now the question is: Who will be caught at
$350 an ounce?