SBM - this one has SGW's 500,000 ounces gold asset

[Volcano]

http://www.thewest.com.au/20050322/business/tw-business-home-sto130745.html

Check out this link SBM has bought SGW's gold assets for a mere 38million, this operation used to produce 500,000 ounces a year. As long as they keep the problem mines closed, it could really re-rate SBM.

Have a look at the activity in SBM today..

;)

[Volcano]

Nice close on the high today....

[Happy]

Maybe you should look at BDG...it has 11mOzs of reserves and is the cheapest of the major future gold producers...and will be producuing 1moz peranum by 2006.

[SimonSays]

Yeah - looks like a good exploration play - need lots of holes and an even better deal for Hank and the boys from Denver ! Great corporate governance deal given the 31% holding of SBM. Let's hope the conflicted directors did not vote. :)

[Volcano]

Don't think they need to explore, just start up the operations and don't open tarmoola mine. This was the mine that was blowing out the costs...

They got such a large asset for a mere 2million dollars and the 38million government tax on cleanup bonds...


http://www1.sog.com.au/pages/gold_division.asp


BDG has a 300million market cap, SBM has a 62million market cap. SGW used to produce 500,000 ounces a year, something OXR dreams about lol

[Volcano]

All this for $2million + the government enviro bond....




Overview
Sons of Gwalia Ltd has interests in over 2,200km2 of mining and exploration tenements in the Leonora Region of Western Australia.
The Region encompasses the Tarmoola gold mine and processing facility, a number of smaller satellite mines, the Sons of Gwalia underground mine, the Gwalia Deeps project and the Gwalia processing facility.

Key Facts as at 30 June 2003
Total Reserves: 23.98Mt @ 1.6g/t for 1.26 million ounces gold
Additional Resources: 71.5Mt @ 2.2g/t for 4.99 million ounces gold
SOG Treatment Capacity: 1.8Mtpa
Tarmoola Treatment Capacity: 3.4Mtpa
2003 Production 237,036 ounces @ $470 per ounce



These figures are under revision following the geotechnical failure in the Tarmoola pit and subject to the reslts of the Canyon Granites project evaluation.



Tarmoola Gold Mine Background
The Tarmoola gold mine is a large open pit that has been operated by a number of owners since it was first commissioned in May 1990. Sons of Gwalia acquired Tarmoola through the takeover of PacMin in October 2001 and in the 13 years until 30 June 2003, the Tarmoola mine had produced a total of 1.3 million ounces of gold.

Tarmoola Gold Mine Current Operations


Mining is concentrated at the Tarmoola open pit– the resource is made up of a number of domains with higher grade mineralisation contained in the northern end of the open pit and the 10400 shoot in the centre of the pit. In the 2002/2003 financial year production has been affected by a pit wall failure in the central portion of the open pit that has delayed the extraction of high grade ore. Modelling of the northern and southern end of the ore body to identify the optimum development plan is ongoing.


Sons of Gwalia Gold Mine – History


Gold was first discovered near Leonora, by a group of 3 prospectors in May 1896. The prospectors named their find “Sons of Gwalia” in honour of the Welshman who funded them, “Gwalia” being a derivation of the Welsh word for Wales.

Underground mining started in 1897 and operated continuously until 1963, during which time it produced 2.6 million ounces of gold, at an average grade of 11g/t, from depths down to 1,000m via an incline shaft.

The Sons of Gwalia gold mine was re-opened in 1983 when the company of the same name, Sons of Gwalia, was first listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Open pit mining began in 1984 and continued until 1999 when the open pit was exhausted and mining operations moved, once more, underground.


Recent Operations
Gold production at Sons of Gwalia mine was sourced from remnant mining of the underground orebody and the treatment of low grade stockpiles. The future value of the Sons of Gwalia mine lies with the +1.6 million ounce Gwalia Deeps Project, described below. Sons of Gwalia operations will close prior to the end of the September 2003 quarter.

Gwalia Deeps
The diagram below shows a 3D representation of the Sons of Gwalia orebody. Gwalia Deeps is a development project at a vertical depth of between 1073m and 1680m vertical depth. A pre-feasibility study indicated that the project was both technically and economically robust at a spot gold price of A$525 per ounce. The Company is now investigating the most appropriate way to finance the project, including the possibility of a joint venture partner.

Gwalia Deeps
Gwalia Deeps is one of the largest undeveloped high quality underground gold projects in the North Eastern Goldfields region.

A pre-feasibility study supports the economic viability of the project at a gold price of A$525 per ounce, with the project sized at 120,000-150,000 ounces per annum, over a ten year mine life at cash costs of around A$340 per ounce. The risks of project development can be partially managed by a staged approach. Stage 1 would comprise an exploration shaft and further resource definition drilling at a cost of A$50 million - A$55 million. Successful Stage 1 results would see commitment to Stage 2 comprising shaft deepening and full development at

[SimonSays]

Thanks for the encyclopaedia. Believe me I know they need to drill a lot more holes. Hank's an old mate of mine too. Need to cut a deal with him in fact over the next month or two.

[donner]

What kind of value does this add in cps to SBM?

[Volcano]

Hank?

Old annual report states they have around 8million ounces..

Guess they must have something at least you don't produce 500,000 > from nothing

[Volcano]

Could be heading towards 25c this week ;)

[Volcano]

No posts on this one for a while. Chart looks ready for another move soon?

[slam]

quote:Originally posted by volcanoman

No posts on this one for a while. Chart looks ready for another move soon?



Volcanoman
Try this thread
http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14562&whichpage=10&SearchTerms=SBM

Cheers
Slam

[winner69]

Disappointing quarterly yesterday but I thought most knew about the problems ..... didn't stop a 20% drop . bad day to make such an announcement eh

As gold miners go a good bet ....... price will recover

[shasta]

Disappointing quarterly yesterday but I thought most knew about the problems ..... didn't stop a 20% drop . bad day to make such an announcement eh

As gold miners go a good bet ....... price will recover

SBM June quarterly out, & whilst gold production for the last year wasn't a great amount the forecast to around 300,000/oz is very promising.

SP 25c (though shares on issue fully dilluted = ~1.2b)

Another goldie i have on watch :rolleyes:

http://www.stocknessmonster.com/news-item?S=SBM&E=ASX&N=301951

[absolut-advance]

One to watch for sure,

Not the time to buy.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e264/arranging/sbm_ax_price_daily20jul07_to_04aug0.png

What a pretty rainbow!

Pot of gold at the end of the Rainbow? :D

AA

[SCHUMACHER]

Bought SBM at 24C RECENTLY as im interested in the 300,000 ounces production forcast for 2009 FY ....This is a massive jump from 177 produced from previous corresponding period (pcp)

GOLD LOOKS GOOD FOR THE FUTURE!!!! GO SBM
Here is an article i found today from Kitco.....interesting and gives us food for thought as to the possible direction of GOLD ...enjoy the read!..cheers Schu

Confidence in the banking system has been mortally wounded. This is contracting the global economies [maybe Asia can limit the decay in its own system?]. Central Banks are in danger of losing their own credibility as the crisis persists and as they slash interest rates. After all, it’s not a matter of rates, but confidence in the entire system and its instruments. Investors are seeing their own wealth fall victim to the markets on a daily basis and are searching for something that can avoid that decay. If profits can be made from the decline in the market as well, it’s a bonus! Therefore, gold is moving back into the spotlight.

Bankers don’t trust each other!

The decay of confidence is moving with the speed of a contagious disease. The Fed is doing all it can to restore confidence not amongst the public, but within the banking community. Trained to examine creditworthiness, they won’t even give credit to each other. Bernanke is saying in effect that the U.S. Treasury, no the U.S. itself, stands behind credit amongst you bankers to the extent that we will take the debt you have, re-package it with a government guarantee and put it back into the market. Foreign governments need that reassurance, as well as U.S., European and every other banker in the world too. The principle behind this is that bankers are supposed to realize that if governments go down, they are going down too, so why refuse government debt? But the high levels of LIBOR [London Interbank Offered Rate - the rate bankers lend to each other] continue at exorbitant levels. This bodes more ill for the financial world itself, regardless of Paulson’s package. After all, if the package and lower interest rates do not work, it means that confidence is lost! The next move will leave disarray in currency markets.

The contagion is in Europe now and governments are falling over themselves to guarantee deposits as customers pull out deposits. Major surplus countries are staring in horror [major depositors in the global banking world], captured by the fact that they have so many deposits with the U.S. government [and others] that they can’t afford to pull out. They are stuck with the $ and see little alternative to it as the € seems to be headed in the same direction now. It is unlikely though that they will just sit still and absorb losses. So what will they do? Could they begin to unload some currencies and retain some value?

These two global trading blocs have most other nations dependent on them for their own economic viability, towing them along through the ills affecting them. There is no way out of the situation for almost any economy unless they are relatively self-sufficient economies [such as China]. The only solution is the restoration of confidence.

This piece is not saying that the banking system will run to gold as money, because it would not be practical to replace gold where paper is right now. First, it would have to be taken into government custody. Then, as in 1935, it would need to be revalued so that it could be spread far and wide, with bankers, cap in hand promising not to print money to excess and while telling their customers, “live now, pay later”. We’re not there just yet, but are we headed that way?

No, until governments reform the financial system in a manner that can restore trust in banking, credit and savings, gold will remain where it is now, in individual’s hands worldwide and in the vaults of governments wise enough to retain their holdings in the event of that inevitable ‘rainy day’. That day is here!

Is gold immune to the confidence crisis?

As confidence wanes, will gold be pulled down with other assets? We believe that once the de-leveraging hemorrhaging has abated, investment funds moving into gold will take the reins. Gold will do its job of retaining value when other assets won’t. After all, the net effect of inflation and deflation is the same; you have less value to buy goods with! Gold will hold on to the confidence it receives now with a very large number of investors coming across from other markets to it, taking it much higher.

With money being issued in seeming trillions, one quality of gold stands head and shoulders above the rest; gold is a limited edition item. It can be traded from Mongolia to Central Africa, Dubai to Denver and anywhere else in the world. It doesn’t rely on government support, or handouts, or promises of payment. And that means everything at the moment.

The gold market is about to enter the final stage of its evolution. This stage springs from failing confidence in paper money, currently as bad as any pre-war situation and heads back into the investment world as an important component of responsible portfolios. If governments can accede to the disciplines that gold imposes on them, they will also start to buy gold. But this is the hardest leap for them because they have been fighting gold off from being relevant to the money world [and promoting paper money] for nearly 40 years [since Nixon closed the gold window in 1971]. Once they endorse gold by buying it, there will be a flood of funds looking for it.

Will governments turn back to gold?

It is possible, perhaps probable, that, as in 1933 – 1935, gold captures the attention of governments again. As we said above, if it does, they will want to hold it away from the public and for the same reasons. What has become starkly evident is that gold cannot be manipulated long-term, as it was over the last 30 years by governments. Too much confidence has been lost in the last year in the monetary system for a credible attack on gold to persist with the $ being held up as the alternative, so gold perhaps will be used to shore up that confidence, in some way. But this will not happen until the monetary system is almost in disarray. If they do return to gold, you will have no notice whatsoever, most likely on a Monday morning [since that seems to be the way of notifying you these days] and you will see it as a done deal. Will you be you sitting without your gold?

[SCHUMACHER]

Outlook for Financial Year 2009
• Total forecast gold production for both Leonora
and Southern Cross Operations for the 2009 fiscal
year is between 295,000 and 315,000 ounces at a
forecast cash operating cost of between A$650
and A$670 (US$515 and US$531) per ounce. The
forecast cash operating cost for Gwalia for the
2009 fiscal year is A$450 to A$470 (US$356 to
US$372) per ounce.
• The exploration budget for the 2009 fiscal year is
A$19 (US$15) million.
• Forecast capital expenditure for the 2009 fiscal
year is between A$118 and A$132 (US$93 and
US$105) million.
• Capital and exploration expenditure for the year
is fully funded from cash flow from operations,
assuming a gold price of A$975 (US$772) per
ounce and current cash reserves.

[shasta]

Outlook for Financial Year 2009
• Total forecast gold production for both Leonora
and Southern Cross Operations for the 2009 fiscal
year is between 295,000 and 315,000 ounces at a
forecast cash operating cost of between A$650
and A$670 (US$515 and US$531) per ounce. The
forecast cash operating cost for Gwalia for the
2009 fiscal year is A$450 to A$470 (US$356 to
US$372) per ounce.
• The exploration budget for the 2009 fiscal year is
A$19 (US$15) million.
• Forecast capital expenditure for the 2009 fiscal
year is between A$118 and A$132 (US$93 and
US$105) million.
• Capital and exploration expenditure for the year
is fully funded from cash flow from operations,
assuming a gold price of A$975 (US$772) per
ounce and current cash reserves.

Schu

You only have to see the sell down of the likes of LGL, to see how current large producers are getting smashed (DOM, OGC among others).

I dont think now is the time for near term gold producers when costs are goin thru the roof.

You will find those costs have risen somewhat, & i would urge some caution.

[Dr_Who]

What do you guys think of SBM?

They just finished their placement today oversubscribed. Production ramped up this year onwards with production cost to come down next year onwards.

[shasta]

What do you guys think of SBM?

They just finished their placement today oversubscribed. Production ramped up this year onwards with production cost to come down next year onwards.

Bit of baggage with SBM, re over promising, under delivering.

If you like gold, you should be looking at the majors, ie AGG/NEM

If you like the 2nd tier goldies there's DOM, LGL

Have a look at all there charts...:eek:

I've been mentioning NEM, & AGG for a while too ;)

[SCHUMACHER]

Makes for interesting reading !!!!
The author makes some honest black and white comments about the causes of the decline in US currency and the effect of increasing the monetry base and how that affects the economy....enjoy!! Cheers

Gold Is About to Soar

By Paul Learton
May 22 2009 10:24AM

www.gainspainscapital.com

Do you own gold yet?

As I’m sure you’re aware, starting in July 2007, the financial markets entered one of the most severe crises in history. In response to this, the Feds (Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, etc.) have tried to prop up the financial system with numerous interventions. A brief recap of their moves are as follows:


The Federal Reserve cutting interest rates from 5.25-0.25% (Sept ’07-today)
The Bear Stearns deal/ Fed taking on $30 billion in junk mortgages (March ’08)
The Fed opens up various lending windows to investment banks (March ’08)
The SEC proposes banning short-selling on financial stocks (July ’08)
Hank Paulson gets a blank check for Fannie/Freddie but promises not to use it (July ’08)
Hank Paulson uses the blank check with Fannie/ Freddie spending $400 billion in the process (Sept ’08).
The Fed takes over insurance company AIG (Sept ’08) for $85 billion.
The Fed doles out $25 billion for the auto makers (Sept ’08)
The Feds kick off the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) with the Government taking stakes in private banks (Oct ’08)
The Fed offers to buy commercial paper (non-bank debt) from non-financial firms (Oct ’08)
The Fed offers $540 billion to backstop money market funds (Oct ’08)
The Feds agree to back up to $280 billion of Citigroup’s liabilities (Oct ’08).
$40 billion more to AIG (Nov ’08)
Feds agree to back up $140 billion of Bank of America’s liabilities (Jan ’09)
Obama’s $787 Billion Stimulus (Jan ’09)
And that’s a BRIEF recap.

All of these moves fall under one basic category: loose money. And of course, it was loose money (easy access to credit) that got us into this mess in the first place. Former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan kept the printing presses rolling and interest rates below the rate of inflation, resulting in one of the largest debt bubbles in history. His successor, Ben Bernanke, is not trying to fix that debt bubble by issuing more debt. All he’s doing is cooking up an inflationary holocaust that will erase 401ks, savings, IRAs and the like.

Don’t believe me? Have a look at the Federal Reserve’s Adjusted Monetary Base:


Reduced: 88% of original size [ 576 x 346 ] - Click to view full image

To give this chart some perspective, in Feb. 2008, the Federal Reserve pumped $30 billion into the financial system to prop up Bear Stearns. Compared to the Fed’s printing orgy of the last 8+ months, that $30 billion is now a microscopic bump (see the slight ripple above “2008-02” on the chart above).

Put another way, the Fed is pumping its brains out, having more than doubled the US monetary base in the last two years. Most worrisome is the fact that the Fed recently starting running the printing presses overtime AGAIN in March ‘09… even though they claim the economy and financial markets are improving.

They’re lying. Things are not getting better. If they were, the Feds wouldn’t be running the printing presses both night and day. No, the financial markets are heading for another crisis. And with the Feds feeding the debt bubble with trillions of dollars, one thing is certain:

BIG inflation is coming.

At some point (it may have already started), the money printing and bailouts will result in a horrific wave of inflation similar to the one this country saw in the early ‘80s. No central bank in the history of mankind has ever been able to print money ad nauseum without devaluing its currency. And the US central bank is currently producing TRILLIONS of dollars to aid their friends on Wall Street.

So it’s no surprise that the smart money (investing legends like Jim Rogers, David Winters, and even Warren Buffett) have been preparing in advance buying inflation hedges and companies that profit during periods of high inflation.

And nothing protects against inflation like GOLD.

You know what to do.

Good investing!

Paul Learton

[JBmurc]

long time no here Schu-Hope you still got your PEN they will blow the doors off SBM which should still doing very well just not 20 fold well

[dragonz]

Makes for interesting reading !!!!
The author makes some honest black and white comments about the causes of the decline in US currency and the effect of increasing the monetry base and how that affects the economy....enjoy!! Cheers

Gold Is About to Soar

By Paul Learton
May 22 2009 10:24AM

www.gainspainscapital.com

Do you own gold yet?

As I’m sure you’re aware, starting in July 2007, the financial markets entered one of the most severe crises in history. In response to this, the Feds (Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, etc.) have tried to prop up the financial system with numerous interventions. A brief recap of their moves are as follows:


The Federal Reserve cutting interest rates from 5.25-0.25% (Sept ’07-today)
The Bear Stearns deal/ Fed taking on $30 billion in junk mortgages (March ’08)
The Fed opens up various lending windows to investment banks (March ’08)
The SEC proposes banning short-selling on financial stocks (July ’08)
Hank Paulson gets a blank check for Fannie/Freddie but promises not to use it (July ’08)
Hank Paulson uses the blank check with Fannie/ Freddie spending $400 billion in the process (Sept ’08).
The Fed takes over insurance company AIG (Sept ’08) for $85 billion.
The Fed doles out $25 billion for the auto makers (Sept ’08)
The Feds kick off the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) with the Government taking stakes in private banks (Oct ’08)
The Fed offers to buy commercial paper (non-bank debt) from non-financial firms (Oct ’08)
The Fed offers $540 billion to backstop money market funds (Oct ’08)
The Feds agree to back up to $280 billion of Citigroup’s liabilities (Oct ’08).
$40 billion more to AIG (Nov ’08)
Feds agree to back up $140 billion of Bank of America’s liabilities (Jan ’09)
Obama’s $787 Billion Stimulus (Jan ’09)
And that’s a BRIEF recap.

All of these moves fall under one basic category: loose money. And of course, it was loose money (easy access to credit) that got us into this mess in the first place. Former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan kept the printing presses rolling and interest rates below the rate of inflation, resulting in one of the largest debt bubbles in history. His successor, Ben Bernanke, is not trying to fix that debt bubble by issuing more debt. All he’s doing is cooking up an inflationary holocaust that will erase 401ks, savings, IRAs and the like.

Don’t believe me? Have a look at the Federal Reserve’s Adjusted Monetary Base:


Reduced: 88% of original size [ 576 x 346 ] - Click to view full image

To give this chart some perspective, in Feb. 2008, the Federal Reserve pumped $30 billion into the financial system to prop up Bear Stearns. Compared to the Fed’s printing orgy of the last 8+ months, that $30 billion is now a microscopic bump (see the slight ripple above “2008-02” on the chart above).

Put another way, the Fed is pumping its brains out, having more than doubled the US monetary base in the last two years. Most worrisome is the fact that the Fed recently starting running the printing presses overtime AGAIN in March ‘09… even though they claim the economy and financial markets are improving.

They’re lying. Things are not getting better. If they were, the Feds wouldn’t be running the printing presses both night and day. No, the financial markets are heading for another crisis. And with the Feds feeding the debt bubble with trillions of dollars, one thing is certain:

BIG inflation is coming.

At some point (it may have already started), the money printing and bailouts will result in a horrific wave of inflation similar to the one this country saw in the early ‘80s. No central bank in the history of mankind has ever been able to print money ad nauseum without devaluing its currency. And the US central bank is currently producing TRILLIONS of dollars to aid their friends on Wall Street.

So it’s no surprise that the smart money (investing legends like Jim Rogers, David Winters, and even Warren Buffett) have been preparing in advance buying inflation hedges and companies that profit during periods of high inflation.

And nothing protects against inflation like GOLD.

You know what to do.

Good investing!

Paul Learton

AVO is on my radar at the moment. Since the Cap raising has eliminated risk and the market has absorbed the cost its starting to look interesting from both a technical and fundie perpective at the moment. Production is performing as expected, growth prospects look excellent and money in the bank. I had hoped for a pullback on Friday but will see what happeds on Monday.

Personally I wouldnt touch SBM until they get thier production costs under control.

[Huang Chung]

Dragon, have a look at the EV per resource ounce with AVO. I believe its on the high side compared to some of its peers. (I'm pretty sure I saw this in the Intrepid presentation that was given at their AGM a week ago. It doesn't appear to be on their website, and my hard copy is sitting on my desk at work...so until I get a hold of it, I can't confirm exactly what they were on about).

I've been looking at gold stocks as well. Silver Lake (SLR) impresses, but it seems to be a bit of market darling at the moment.

[dragonz]

Dragon, have a look at the EV per resource ounce with AVO. I believe its on the high side compared to some of its peers. (I'm pretty sure I saw this in the Intrepid presentation that was given at their AGM a week ago. It doesn't appear to be on their website, and my hard copy is sitting on my desk at work...so until I get a hold of it, I can't confirm exactly what they were on about).

I've been looking at gold stocks as well. Silver Lake (SLR) impresses, but it seems to be a bit of market darling at the moment.

Thanks for the info Huang Chung. IMO I think we may see a positive price movement once the uncertaincy of the DIO takeover is out of the way. Proforma group resources increase to c.4moz implying combined EV:Resources of
A$130/oz versus AVO's current A$333/oz rating and sector average of A$164/oz.

Here is a recent brokers report if your interested. https://secure.psl.com.au/library/AVO090415EIE.pdf

Disc. I am not a holder

IAU is another that has come up very strong on my radar. How was the presentation? Huge potential this one.

[Huang Chung]

Ah, yes, the ratio for the combined entity looks a bit better. Will have to look at this more closely.

Intrepid AGM was good. MD Brad Gordon still sounded a bit 'iffy' but was hopeful on achieving some meaningful extra life from Paulsens, and are possibly looking for another project to slot in between Paulsens and Tujuh Bukit. (mind you, within a week, they'd released a good report outlining new drilling intercepts at Paulsens).

Tujuh Bukit looks to be world class, but be aware that:

As the forestry zoning currently stands, they can't conduct an open cut operation in the area where mineralisation has been identified (and it will be an o/c mine). The area needs to be reclassified, and approved by a number of levels of Government (including the relevant Minister). Some are in the bag, some are not there yet.
The underlying sulphide zone cannot be developed by Intrepid without a partner, as, in the words of Brad Gordon, "it will cost billions to develop".

[Phaedrus]

Technically, it would be very difficult to get excited about either. Over the last year they have both gone nowhere at all. If you did want to get into gold, wouldn't you want a stock that moved with it? Note the obvious divergence since mid-April.

http://h1.ripway.com/78963/SBM524.gif

[SCHUMACHER]

Thanks for the chart Phaedras....quite agree and have other gold stocks that are performing.
I guess for SBM its more about picking a turnaround after a disasterous period of non performing........the good thing in SBM s favour is that with ex Newcrest boss, Tim Lehaney is that he has a modus operandi to go forward and take SBM into profitability......im betting on a lower opex per ounce in the next quarter and a higher gold price to lift the shareprice/also looking for an incrEase in production rates which will lower the cost back into the 700/ounce range then it become viable/add in the gold reserve and it could be a good short/medium term play

....considering i bought at 24c im looking for a tidy profit.....

Lets see what happens
cheers SCHU

[SCHUMACHER]

long time no here Schu-Hope you still got your PEN they will blow the doors off SBM which should still doing very well just not 20 fold well


Hi JB yes been in Europe for a few months........How has the market been treating you?........situation is not good over there

Indeed I still hld PEN and wont sell ......

speak soon....Schu

[dragonz]

Technically, it would be very difficult to get excited about either. Over the last year they have both gone nowhere at all. If you did want to get into gold, wouldn't you want a stock that moved with it? Note the obvious divergence since mid-April.

http://h1.ripway.com/78963/SBM524.gif

Totally agree P, excepting that my trades tend to go anywhere from 1 day to 1 week so use different charting parameters.