BHP Billiton Rises on Gold Rumor

Shares of Australian miner BHP Billiton rose 5.2% to a record A$43.14 ($37.43) Monday on speculation that the company might be sitting on the world’s largest gold deposit at its Olympic Dam project in South Australia. Australian newspaper the Herald Sun published an article Monday saying BHP will reveal it has struck "potentially the largest gold resource in the world" when it releases a resources and reserves statement along with its annual report on Wednesday. BHP acquired the huge Olympic Dam mine -- primarily a copper and uranium producer -- two years ago when it bought WMC Resources for $9.2 billion. In August, incoming BHP CEO Marius Kloppers said Olympic Dam had a "significant" increase in its resource base, but declined to specify further. The mine, located 348 miles north of Adelaide, is the biggest underground mine in Australia. It has the largest uranium deposit in the world and the fourth-largest copper deposit. Gold prices, which have risen for six years in a row, touched a 27-year-high of $747 an ounce on Friday.

Sources: MarketWatch, Forbes, The Australian
Commentary: BHP Posts Record H2 Profit on High Prices, Demand • Dropping Down Under: Australia ETF Gives Up Much of Its YTD Gains
Stocks/ETFs to watch: BHP. Competitors: AA, RTP. ETFs: ADRA
Earnings call transcript: BHP Billiton Ltd. Fiscal 2007

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