July 21st 2016 on King World News ( excerpts from big article )
China’s Achilles heel is that its gold mines will run out of reserves by 2020
so the mantle as the world’s largest producer will not last too much longer. China will need to invest. Many of its producers have short lived reserves
and are struggling to replace those reserves. For this cohort of firms,
deeper seated reserves could be exploited by western exploration techniques
and production know-how. However, China is overly protective of its producers.
And often, Chinese management lack the entrepreneurial thinking since the state
owned players tend to be risk averse. In the end, the most important thing is
that China will need to change its outlook.
Meantime, North American reserves can last well into the next two decades. We expect Chinese producers to expand overseas, buying up reserves in the ground which are valued at historically low levels. Currently some 13 percent
of the world’s reserves are in the ground and valued at a fraction of their
replacement or even exploration value. We believe, China’s search for gold assets has only just begun, as it secures future supplies. So far China’s
acquisitions have been domestic, reflected recently by Eldorado Gold’s selling
its Chinese mines for $900 million to local players. We expect China’s acquisition
of oversea producers will pick up with an emphasis of using their capital to
develop the big the in-situ, capital extensive projects. China has a Plan B.
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