FOCUS-Britain sticks with gold sale programme

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( snip )LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday it had no plans to alter its programme of gold reserve sales, offering cold comfort to a South African delegation of ministers, mine owners and union leaders planning a tour of European capitals. ( end )

full story @ http://www.reuters.com/news/

-- kevin (innxxs@yahoo.com), July 13, 1999

Answers

"S.Africa mine leaders to fight UK sales in London"

http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a1376LBY825reulb- 19990713&qt=gold&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), July 13, 1999.


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S.Africa mine leaders to fight UK sales in London

10:16 a.m. Jul 13, 1999 Eastern

By Darren Schuettler

JOHANNESBURG, July 13 (Reuters) - South Africa's Chamber of Mines and National Union of Mineworkers said on Tuesday their top leaders will fly to London tonight to demand a halt to UK gold sales, which have rocked bullion markets since last week.

``Our industry is under attack,'' NUM President James Motlatsi said in a joint statement with Chamber President Bobby Godsell.

``This is a time for all South Africans, indeed all Africans, to stand together in defence of gold and the industry it supports,'' Motlatsi said.

The two leaders will seek meetings with Britain's government, the labour movement, religious leaders and former members of the anti- apartheid movement who remain sympathetic to South Africa.

South Africa on Monday said it was delaying a planned tour of European capitals to lobby against central bank sales while it sought the support of other African gold-producing nations. The union and industry leaders had originally planned to accompany this delegation.

South Africa has sent its deputy mines minister to Ghana and Mali this week to seek their participation the tour. Zambia and Tanzania have already pledged to join the mission.

Britain said on Tuesday it had no plans to alter its programme of gold reserve sales announced in early May.

``We think this is the sensible way forward,'' Treasury Minister Patricia Hewitt told a parliamentary committee in London earlier on Tuesday.

The first auction of 25 tonnes of UK gold took place a week ago and sent bullion prices crashing to fresh 20-year lows. The government plans to sell 415 tonnes of gold in total bringing its reserves down to 300 tonnes in a couple of years.

London gold fixed at $254.25 an ounce on Tuesday morning, down on Monday afternoon's $256.00 and its lowest since May 15, 1979.

A Chamber spokesman said Hewitt's comment would not dissuade the South Africans from making a personal plea to end the damaging gold sales.

``If that is what the British government is saying, it still remains our objective to persuade them to change their minds,'' the spokesman told Reuters.

The Chamber -- which represents most of the country's gold mining companies -- and NUM have warned that at these price levels, about 40 percent of South Africa's gold output was uneconomic and 80,000 jobs were threatened.

Since the British announcement in May, six South African gold mines have set plans to fire over 11,000 mineworkers in a desparate bid to survive at current low gold prices.

Another mine is in liquidation and may force 5,000 miners to seek work in a country where the jobless rate is 30 percent.

Motlatsi and Godsell will also urge Britons to oppose the planned sale of up to 10 million ounces of International Monetary Fund gold.

The IMF sales are intended to help finance debt relief for the world's poorest countries, but critics argue many of those nations also rely on revenue from gold mining activities.

``It is the common position of our government, business and labour to oppose both the IMF and UK sales,'' said Godsell, who is also chief executive of gold giant AngloGold (ANGJ.J).

((Johannesburg newsroom, 27 11 775 3155, newsroom+reuters.co.za))

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

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