A summing up I found around the traps.Hi Jim,I just noticed this...

A summing up I found around the traps.

Hi Jim,

I just noticed this Reuters story about Anglo American posting the winning bid for the Michiquillay copper project in Peru - a cool $403 million. With mine development costs increasing exponentially in this non-inflationary business climate (I jest of course) I would guess that Anglo American will probably be looking at an expenditure of at least $1.5 billion to bring the mine into production.


Also worth noting are the companies that Anglo American beat out in the bidding process. Foremost among them is the world's largest gold producer, Toronto-based Barrick Gold, which seems to be working hard at diversifying its product line. As we all know its joint venture with Xstrata in Tanzania will give Barrick exposure to the nickel market. Could they be seeing the writing on the wall with respect to future gold supplies? Call me a fundamentalist, but one could easily conclude that good old supply and demand may become as large a factor in the gold price as the U.S. dollar.

David Duval**

**David Duval is the co-founder and Managing Editor of jsmineset.com. He is a mining author, former Technical Advisor to the United Nations and a Vancouver-based mining consultant and corporate director.