via GFI Website - Nick Holland

Nick Holland spins off their South African gold mining assets into a new company. If you had read the presentation that he gave to investors last July, then you might assume they are using leverage against the gold price to raise required capital.

http://www.goldfields.co.za/gf_announcement.html

If you will remember, GFI bought into Canadian gold mining exploration junior Committee Bay resources, but was wiped out during the financial crash in 2008. That asset was bought out by a nickel miner and then re-IPO'd as North Country Gold:

http://www.northcountrygold.com/projects/committee_bay_greenstone_belt/

You can start with this article in Motley Fool, and the following quote:

"Because they had been the only game in town, gold miners were never all that worried about doing shareholder friendly things like paying dividends or protecting capital. As long as they were finding and producing gold, it was all good. The competitive angle introduced by the ETF meant that if gold miners wanted to remain as the go to vehicle for investors, they were going to have to pick up their game.

Guess what? They didn’t. Gold miners continued to more or less behave as they always had. Overpromising and under delivering was (and continues to be) an issue that plagued the industry and investors were no longer forced to put up with it. Gold company stocks were exchanged for shares in the newly created ETF."

Motley Fool

-F6