And the Heavyweight Gold Mining Company Champion Is…!

 

I have been asked which large cap gold miner is the overall best place to invest in this sector. There are currently five gold mining stocks with a market capitalization greater than $10 billion dollars so may the stock with the best fundamentals and future prospects for shareholders reign supreme! [And the winner is…] Words: 2248

So says Christopher F. Davis in edited excerpts from his original article* as posted on Seeking Alpha.

Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.munKNEE.com (Your Key to Making Money!) and www.FinancialArticleSummariesToday.com (A site for sore eyes and inquisitive minds) has edited the article below for length and clarity – see Editor’s Note at the bottom of the page. This paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.

Davis goes on to say, in part:

[Before proceeding] it is important to note that Gold Fields Ltd (GFI), Kinross Gold (KGC), and Rangold Resources (GOLD) with market capitalizations at $9.99 billion, $9.38 billion and $9.13 billion, respectively, have been excluded from the following analysis as they did not meet the hard cutoff of $10 billion in market capitalization as a large-cap stock. The 5 that do are listed below ranked by market capitalization:

Company	Market Capitalization ($Billions)
Barrick Gold (ABX)	34.61
Goldcorp (GG)	30.40
Newmont Mining (NEM)	23.56
AngloGold Ashanti (AU)	13.27
Yamana Gold (AUY)	11.47

 

Goldcorp:

• Profit dropped to $268 million, or 26 cents a share, in the quarter ended June 30, from $489 million, or 52 cents, a year earlier. Removing one-time items, profit dropped to $332 million, or 41 cents a share, from $413 million, or 52 cents. Analysts, on average, had expected earnings of 42 cents a share.
• Revenue fell to $1.1 billion in the second quarter from $1.3 billion on lower gold output and sales.
• It cost GG $619 to mine an ounce of gold in Q2 2012, as opposed to $553 in the comparable 2011 quarter.
• Both operating and profit margins have been declining in recent quarters.
• The balance sheet shows they have decreasing assets, but their debt to asset ratio has not increased.
• Their assets are impressive, at the end of 2010, Goldcorp had proven gold reserves of 23.3 million of over 23 million ounces in its existing mines. It also had probable gold reserves of 36.83 million ounces and estimated gold reserves that could be as high as 60.06 million ounces. GG also had silver reserves of 673 million ounces, copper reserves of 3.02 billion pounds, lead reserves of 4.3 billion pounds, along with 10.4 billion pounds of zinc.
• The 52-week range of the stock is $31.54-$56.31. They trade on average approximately 5.7 million shares per day.
• The quarter was a disappointment, and is about 6 points off of its all time lows two weeks ago, trading at $37.48 on Friday.
• GG has a world class gold mining operation, and have the capacity to buy out smaller companies with proven reserves.

Definitely a contender as top dog.

Barrick Gold:

• As of December 31, 2011, ABX’s proven and probable mineral reserves were 139.9 million ounces of gold, 1.07 billion ounces of silver contained within gold reserves and 12.7 billion pounds of copper.
• In 2011, ABX produced 7.7 million ounces of gold at total cash costs of $460 per ounce or net cash costs of $339 per ounce and produced 451 million pounds of copper at total cash costs of $1.75 per pound.
• For 2012, ABX expects gold production of 7.3-7.8 million ounces at total and net cash costs of $550-$575 per ounce and $460-$500 per ounce, respectively.
• The company also expects 2012 copper production of 460-500 million pounds at cash costs of $2.10-$2.30 per pound.
• ABX annual gold and copper production base is expected to be over 8 million ounces by 2015 and over 600 million pounds by 2013.
• The stock is down a whopping 24% this year.
• Some of this decline came after generally weak earnings report which centered on ABX’s project in Pascua-Lama, on the border of Chile-Argentina, which is expected to produce less than gold than initially projected and it is expected that it will cost a lot more than previously thought….
• ABX hopes to produce between 800,000 ounces and 850,000 ounces of gold (and 35 million ounces of silver) a year at Pascua-Lama when the mine is at full operation. Mining costs at Pascua Lima are not known, but they are expected to be high.
• ABX has tried cutting costs by postponing making its decision with respect to the Donlin Gold Project in Alaska, in which it is a 50% partner with NG….
• There are some new projects coming on line, such as its Pueblo Viejo mine this year. ABX and GG are actually partners on this project with ABX being 60% owner, and GG 40% owner of the mine. The company expects to produce nearly 100,000 ounces of gold in 2012 from Pueblo Viejo and approximately 650,000 ounces of gold in 2013.
• There is also the Turquoise Ridge mine in Nevada where ABX owns 75% and is in charge of daily operations at the facility. NEM is a partner on this project as well. The gold reserves at Turquoise Ridge are estimated at 5.3 million ounces
• The cost of producing gold continues to rise and is currently somewhere between $550 and $575 per ounce for ABX overall. They originally projected $520 to $560 an ounce.
• In North America, they produced over 3.3 million ounces of gold at a cost $426 per ounce in 2011. The company expects production in North America for 2012 to be between $475 and $525.
• Management actually sees the shares as a discount, as there has been some large insider buys , as the new CEO Jamie Sokalsky bought 50K shares on August 3rd at $32.59 each and a director bought 100,000 shares.
• Turning to the balance sheet, they have a flat to increasing debt to asset ratio, and have a large amount of cash. As of June 2012, the company has 2.3 billion in cash and equivalents, with 13.9 billion long term debt, with about 51 billion in total assets.
• With this cash, they have a large 500 million dollar exploratory budget, and
• recently approved an increase to the dividend of 33%, raising it to 20 cents paid quarterly effective may 2012. I expect to see increased dividends if the company can thrive.
• The company is cheap on a p/e basis of only 8.5, and a PEG ratio of 0.1.

This one could give GG a serious run for its money.

Newmont Mining

• The company’s assets and operations are located in the United States, Australia, Peru, Indonesia, Ghana, New Zealand, and Mexico.
• The stock has a 52-week trading range of $42.95 to $72.42, and currently is at $48 a share trading on average daily volume of 6.2 million shares, to be down over 20% on the year.
• NEM reported a rough second quarter on July 27th. Newmont’s reported Q2 earnings per share of 56 cents was much lower than the Street’s estimate of 93 cents.
• Attributable gold production fell 10% this quarter and costs applicable to sales increased 10%.
• The profit of 56 cents or $279 million, compares to $387 million, or $1.04 a share, a year ago.
• Revenues missed by $300 million, as they pulled in $2.23 billion versus and estimated $2.53 billion.
• Sales slipped 6.5% to $2.2 billion. NEM reduced its full year gold production estimate to 5 to 5.1 million ounces, from its previous 5 to 5.2 million range citing lower production at its Tanami operations in Australia.
• Due to a delay in its Conga project in Peru, NEM’s 2012 attributable capital expenditure target was also narrowed to $2.7 to $3 billion, from $3 to $3.3 billion.
• In response to the quarter, analysts at Jefferies maintained its hold rating on NEM but lowered its price target from $46 to $43. The street ratings have reiterated NEM by as a hold.
• President and COO Gary Goldberg has just bought 1,000 shares at $44.60 on July 31. While not a massive purchase, it shows he expects shares to increase.
• The company also pays a bountiful dividend. The current annualized dividend paid by Newmont Mining Corp. is $1.40/share, currently paid in quarterly installments, and its most recent dividend has an upcoming ex-date of 09/04/2012.
• The company is cheap relative to its forward growth potential trading at just a 0.15 PEG ratio, but expensive relative to current earnings at a p/e of 82.
• The balance sheet shows they have $1.9 billion in cash and equivalents on hand, with an increasing debt to asset ratio.
• However, with NEM’s most recent acquisition of Hope Bay (the largest undeveloped greenfield in North America), promising exploration projects in Peru and Ghana, and the startup of Australia’s largest gold producer at Boddington, Newmont is poised for long term growth.

While a large company with strong potential, does it have enough to take down the likes of GG or ABX?

AngloGold Ashanti:

• Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, AngloGold Ashanti has 20 operations in 10 countries on four continents, as well as several exploration projects in both the established (U.S., Australia) and new gold producing regions (West Africa, remote regions of South America) of the world. AU also produces silver, uranium oxide and sulfuric acid as by-products.
• AU reported a decent Q2. Some highlights from their report are as follows:
• Q2 production 1.07 million ounces of gold, beating their own guidance on strong performance from Africa and South America.
• Q2 total cash costs $801 per ounce (which is rather high in the space), which was better than their guidance of 825 per ounce due to improved volumes, weaker local currencies.
• Q2 Adjusted headline earnings of $253 million, or 65 U.S. cents a share. This was down year over year, in tandem with many other leading gold producers reporting earnings this season.
• Projects they are working on are all reported on budget and on schedule; Tropicana projects first gold production is expected by end of 2013.
• They completed acquisition of a residual 50% stake in Serra Grande mining project
• Record EBITDA of $1.47 billion achieved in seasonally weaker first half (Q1 and Q2).
• On July 23, they were granted a revolving credit facility of $1 billion, which was a refinance at competitive rates and extends maturity….
• Safety related stoppages at the South African operations continue to pose a threat to production rates from the region. In a series of mining accidents, five employee fatalities were recorded at incidents at the Great Noligwa, Mongbwalu and Obuasi and at TauTona operations.
• Full year 2012 expected production remains 4.3 million ounces-4.4 million ounces at a total cash cost of $780 to $805 per ounce.
• For the third quarter, production is expected to be around 1.07 million to 1.1 million ounces, at a total cash cost of $835 to $865 per ounce.
• The stock has a 52-week range of $30.70-$49.14, and currently trades at $34.75 a share, with average volume of 1.75 million shares changing hands daily.
• The company has a P/E of 8.68 with a PEG ratio of 0.13.
• The company pays an unstable (it varies quarter to quarter) dividend quarterly, currently at a 1.3% yield.
• Finally, the balance sheet shows they have $987 million in cash and equivalents on hand, with a flat to increasing debt to asset ratio (likely due to the refinancing discussed above).
• Keys to success for Au include reducing input costs, and staying on schedule and on budget as they have done.

Could AU be a dark horse competitor for the crown of best large cap gold miner?

Yamana Gold:

• AUY has a 52-week range of $12.35-$18.16, and currently trades at $15.30 a share on average volume of 5.6 million.
• Net earnings were $43 million, or 6 cents per share versus the 22 cents estimated and a 77% decline from the $195 million profit, or 26 cents per share in the same quarter a year ago . Excluding one-time items, the company said adjusted profit was 18 cents per share.
• Revenue came in at $536 million, down from $573 million, as lower metal prices and reduced volume of copper concentrate sales hurt. The company said the decline was somewhat offset by increased sales of gold contributed by the Mercedes mine, which was under construction a year ago.
• Gross margin was 62.5%, 400 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.
• Operating margin was 26.5%, 1,470 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.
• Net margin was 8.0%, 2,600 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter
• Total gold production was 288,700 ounces compared to 278,737 ounces, while total copper production slipped to 40.4 million pounds, down from 70.7 million pounds.
• The company sold 268,441 gold equivalent ounces, up from 261,926 ounces a year-prior. Copper sales fell to 37.4 million pounds from 41.6 million pounds.
• Turning to the balance sheet, the company had $698 million in cash and equivalents on hand, with an increasing debt to asset ratio.
• Cash flow amounted to $241 million in the quarter, compared with the year-prior figure of $331 million. The decline stemmed from lower earnings and a lot of money is being invested into developing its assets.
• During the quarter, the company drilled 7,300 meters in 39 locations in Gualcamayo, Argentina. The drilling focused on extending the Rodado breccias operation to the north.
• Looking ahead, production for fiscal 2012 is slated to be about 1.2 to 1.3 million gold equivalent ounces, most of which will come from Mercedes as production ramps up.
• For fiscal 2013, production is also expected to be around 1.5 to 1.7 million gold equivalent ounces, most of which will come from full-year production from Santa Luz and Ernesto Pau-a-Pique operations.
• Should the company stay on track and on budget, they are poised for growth, and the company realizes this as they increased their dividend 18% to 6.5 cents per share in the most recent quarter.

With excellent long term potential, the stock deserved a place in this battle royal, but may have eliminated itself with its most recent quarter and cash flow issues.

Bottom line:

The above 5 companies all represent good investments in the long term, as I expect the miners to once again return to a strong correlation with the price of gold which I fully expect to continue to surge due to inflationary pressures, the likelihood of bond buying European stimulus, and the increasing reality of a QE3 in the United States.

I think it comes down to the two heaviest of the heavyweights, GG and ABX and if I had to choose a winner from this battle royal of these gold diggers, I would put my money with the slight underdog, ABX, for the long term. They have:

• proven assets,
• ability to grow,
• pay a solid dividend,
• have a great balance sheet,
• are trading very low,
• have huge earnings potential in the next five years, and
• have seen some management buying.

While others are all great contenders, I tip my hat to ABX, even in light of some recent missteps, for the next five years.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP YET?

• Go here to receive Your Daily Intelligence Report with links to the latest articles posted on munKNEE.com.

• It’s FREE and includes an “easy unsubscribe feature” should you decide to do so at any time.

• Join the crowd! 100,000 articles are read monthly at munKNEE.com.

• Only the most informative articles are posted, in edited form, to give you a fast and easy read. Don’t miss out. Get all newly posted articles automatically delivered to your inbox. Sign up here.

• All articles are also available on TWITTER and FACEBOOK

*http://seekingalpha.com/article/804971-battle-of-the-heavyweight-gold-diggers-who-comes-out-on-top?source=email_macro_view&ifp=0  (To access the above article please copy the URL and paste it into your browser.)

Editor’s Note: The above post may have been edited ([ ]), abridged (…), and reformatted (including the title, some sub-titles and bold/italics emphases) for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. The article’s views and conclusions are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original article.

Related Articles:

1.  Which Major Gold Miner Offers Investors the Greatest Bang for Their Buck?

Which major gold miner offers investors the most bang for their buck…depends on which metric you use to measure value, but one metric I like to look at is miner’s proven & probable gold reserves in relation to its market capitalization. This statistic offers investors a quick glance at how much the market is valuing each ounce of gold on a miner’s mineral reserve report. To make comparisons amongst gold miners more relevant, we’re only going to focus on Proven and Probable gold reserves, as inferred, indicated, and measured reserves may not even exist. So which gold miners offer the best value in terms of reserves? Let’s find out. Words: 850

2.  2012 Ranking of Global Gold Mines & Deposits

How many ounces of in-situ gold exist? How many gold mines exist in Canada and elsewhere? How rare is a 1.0 million ounce undeveloped deposit? This report answers these questions and more while providing insight into the scarcity of mines & deposits.