Global gold demand boosts Navachab earnings

NAMIBIA’S earnings from gold exports climbed about two per cent last year compared to 2010, as especially the eurozone debt crisis triggered a stronger gold price.

Even though Navachab produced less gold in 2011 than the year before, the value of total production was N$780 million, compared to N$763 million in 2010, Capricorn Investment Holdings (CIH) said in its latest Mineral Report.’The economic uncertainties plaguing many developed economies during this period (the most notable of which being the European debt crisis) have resulted in significant upward pressure on safe haven commodity prices, resulting in the difference between the value and quantity growing even larger in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first two months of 2012,’ CIH said.Navachab produced 209 kg and 207 kg of gold in January and February this year respectively.’As the US economy seems to be tracking towards recovery, we have recently seen a slight easing in the gold price, meaning that it is likely these high sales values will fall slightly going into the second quarter of 2012,’ CIH said.Uranium production has yet to catch up with the levels it was experiencing before the adverse weather slowed production in the first quarter of 2011, with the slight exception of January 2012 where production recorded 994 518 pounds, the highest level recorded since January 2010.Earnings from zinc exports, on the other, hand, dropped. CIH said 152 000 tonnes of zinc were produced at Namibia’s Skorpion and Rosh Pinah mines in 2011, about 2,6 per cent less than the year before.’Although production volumes in the fourth quarter of 2011 were similar to that produced in the corresponding period in 2010, there was a significant difference between the revenue fetched between the two periods. This is because the final quarter of 2010 saw a considerable increase in the price and thus value of refined zinc, with sales amounting to N$1,55 billion compared to N$773 million in the fourth quarter of 2011,’ CIH said.Both the production quantity and value of refined zinc fell in the first two months of 2012 with combined output of 16 000 tonnes in January and February this year compared to 23 500 tonnes produced in the corresponding period in 2010, CIH said. Value decreased from N$397,7 million to N$261,9 million.