Maybe this will happen to NOT today
drill it and they will come
griz
Mining stocks surge on record gold
November 1, 2007 - 4:45PM
Investors jumped into Australian gold stocks on Thursday after the price of the yellow metal hit a 28-year high at just over $US800.
The spot gold price hit $US799.30 during Asian trade, having passed $US800 an ounce overnight on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest level since 1980.
The spot price of gold closed Sydney trading at $US797.10 an ounce on Thursday.
Commonwealth Bank commodities strategist David Moore said a weaker US dollar, higher oil prices and cut to US interest rates combined to drive the gold price higher.
"Near term, I think, it is possible that the gold price could go higher, particularly if the US dollar continues to retain a weak lean," Mr Moore told AAP.
The surge in price lit a fire underneath many of Australia's largest gold producers, with Newcrest gaining $1.10 or 3.4 per cent per cent to close at a record high of $33.50.
Lihir Gold Ltd picked up 18 cents to $4.31 and Denver-based Newmont put on 31 cents or 6.07 per cent to $5.42.
Earlier this year, Pierre Lassonde, the vice-chairman of the world's second largest gold producer, Newmont, predicted the gold price would hit $US1000 per ounce.
Mr Lassonde, a renowned gold bull, professed at the Diggers & Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie in August that gold would have "three zeros after the first number".
"I just don't know what the first number will be," he added, while declining to put a timeframe on the milestone.
Mr Lassonde's previous prediction of the gold price hitting $US750 an ounce by Christmas was surpassed last month.
Newcrest managing director Ian Smith was equally as bullish on the outlook for gold at the company's annual general meeting on Thursday.
"I think all the positive indications are there that the gold price will stay here or higher for the next 12 months," he told reporters after the meeting in Melbourne.
However, Mr Moore said that over the longer term, gold was unlikely to be sustained at these high levels.
"My own opinion is, over time, we may see a gold price retreat from current levels ... but with gold, you never say never," Mr Moore said.
