Pipeline operators have been making the news as of late- and little of the coverage has been favorable. The media's main focus has been on the fierce debate over TransCanada Corp.'s (TSX:TRP) $7.6-billion Keystone XL pipeline, which would pump crude oil from the Alberta oil sands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.crusher in Asia

The Obama administration recently rejected the proposal in light of fierce opposition from environmentalists and landowners. The company now plans to reroute the line to address these concerns. It will then reapply for a permit, with an aim to start transporting the crude in 2015.

"Keystone Kops" reference comes at a delicate time for Enbridge

Concern about the safety of pipelines has been heightened by recent leaks that have caused significant environmental damage. For example, on July 25 and 26, 2010, a line in Michigan owned by Enbridge Energy Partners (TSX:ENB,NYSE:ENB) ruptured, spilling 800,000 gallons of oil into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. Last week, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a scathing report on the incident.

"This investigation identified a complete breakdown of safety at Enbridge," said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman in a press release. "Their employees performed like Keystone Kops and failed to recognize their pipeline had ruptured and continued to pump crude into the environment."

The report comes at a delicate time for Enbridge, which is seeking approval for its proposed 1,177-kilometer Northern Gateway pipeline, which will carry 525,000 barrels of oil and 193,000 barrels of condensate a day from Edmonton to Kitimat, BC. Environmentalists and other groups have been raising concerns about the project.

Why pipeline investments are defying the negative presscrusher in china

Pipeline stocks have been holding their own despite the bad press. Units of the Alerian MLP Index ETF (NYSE:AMLP), an exchange traded fund that is a good barometer for the industry, are about where they were a year ago. And the two companies at the center of the storm have seen their share prices rise: TransCanada is up 7.7 percent from this time last year, and Enbridge has jumped 31 percent.

Pipelines have been attracting a lot of investor attention recently, because they offer an attractive mix of stability and higher-than-average dividend yields, two appealing traits in an era of low interest rates and volatile stock markets.

There are two main reasons for this stability. For one, pipeline operators get steady revenue streams from their businesses, often under long-term contracts. TransCanada, for example, says it has signed 17- to 18-year contracts with producers to ship oil through Keystone XL. As well, they're less exposed to volatile resource prices, because their contracts tend to be fee-based and therefore less affected by swings in commodity prices.

Many pipelines in the US are set up as master limited partnerships (MLPs). This structure is similar in many ways to a Canadian income trust. MLPs don't pay corporate income tax, which gives them more cash to pay out to unit holders in the form of distributions (similar to the dividends you get from a stock). In addition, MLPs offer investors a potential tax advantage because a portion of the income you get from them can be tax-deferred.

One example of an MLP with a steady payout and rising cash flow is Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE:KMP), which owns or has stakes in 75,000 miles of pipelines and 180 storage terminals. The company ships natural gas, refined petroleum products, crude oil and other chemicals.

Kinder Morgan pays a quarterly distribution of $1.20 a unit, for an annualized yield of 5.7 percent. Its cash flow rose 21 percent in the latest quarter, to $462 million from $382 million a year ago.

Diversified pipeline operators offer greater safety

There are a number of things to keep in mind when looking for pipeline operators to invest in.

For one, you'll want to see rising cash flow and low debt. crusher in mongoliaBoth ensure that the company will be able to maintain (and hopefully increase) its distribution in the future.

In addition, the commodity that the company is shipping could have a significant impact on its longer-term prospects. Right now, natural gas prices are near 20-year lows, partly because new shale gas discoveries are driving up inventories. That could reduce demand for long-distance pipelines in the future, according to Keith Schaefer, publisher of Oil and Gas Investments Bulletin.

"[w]ith so many new shale gas deposits-located all over the US-now every market can be served with 'local' gas, greatly reducing the need for pipelines," wrote Schaefer in a January article. "Dividend-paying pipeline companies have been some of the best performing stocks for resource investors, but the shale gas supply glut may drag them down now, as well."

A good example of this is the 1,100-kilometer Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, which has been in the planning stages since the 1970s. However, the project is now on hold in light of the new shale deposits in the US.

An example of a more diversified pipeline operator is Inter Pipeline Income Fund (TSX: IPL.UN), whichoperates a range of energy-related businesses. In western Canada, it has 6,100 kilometers of pipelines, as well as storage facilities with a total capacity of 4.8 million barrels. Its pipelines handle 950,000 barrels of oil sands bitumen and crude oil a day. Inter Pipeline also extracts natural gas liquids (NGLs) and operates a liquid storage business in Europe.

The company is set up as a publicly traded limited partnership, which is similar to an income trust. It pays a monthly distribution of $0.0875 a unit, for a high 5.46 percent yield.

Attention to maintenance is an often-overlooked factor

Something else you'll want to look for, as the Enbridge incident illustrates, are companies with modern pipelines and sterling safety records. Many of North America's pipelines are reaching a point where significant repairs will be soon necessary. According to Forbes magazine, 41 percent of US oil pipelines were built in the 1950s and 1960s, and another 15 percent are even older.

That's something that Enbridge has learned the hard way. So far, the company has spent $800 million on the ongoing Michigan cleanup, plus the costs to repair equipment and retrain its employees.

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"I struggle to understand this Obama's law," says George Lobho, one of hundreds of traders operating out of tiny wooden shacks in the muddy streets of Mongbwalu. "What does it mean?"

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Ituri is one of many areas of the country to have experienced bitter ethnic conflict between rival tribes in recent years. Massacres have left tens of thousands dead.

It is this fighting that led US authorities to take the unprecedented step of naming Congo in section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank financial regulation act, which says US-listed companies that source gold, tungsten, tantalum and tin from Congo or its neighbours must assure the US stock exchange regulator that their business is not helping fund conflict.

The legislation, signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, puts the onus of proof on end-users. But while it has sent shockwaves through the global gold industry, the fractured and opaque nature of the gold supply chain means it has yet to have an impact where it counts - on the ground.

Gold, which hit record highs near $2,000 an ounce last year and remains above $1 500, is a big earner here. People like Lobho who find it hard to feed their families ask few questions about the origins of the metal on offer. mining equipment application

Lobho buys around 50 grams of metal a week, which he sends on to an exporter in the district capital Bunia about 85 km away. He says he doesn't need to provide any documentation and says trading gold from areas where conflict continues, such as the Kivu provinces, is easy.

"If someone comes from North Kivu, they can sell here, of course," he told Reuters. "No problem."

Members of US Congress are lobbying the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pass the long-delayed guidelines necessary to fully enforce the section. But US companies are not wasting any time getting ready.

Electronics companies such as Dell and Intel have signed up to codes of conduct excluding conflict minerals from their supply chains, and jewellery retailers are pressuring manufacturers to do the same.

Some European gold refineries say they are no longer sourcing any material from Africa's artisanal miners, who can't provide the tracking paperwork their clients demand.

But in Congo, exporters are still finding routes to get gold from remote regions to market.

Research into the impact of Dodd-Frank by a UN Group of Experts last year found that while it had cut the sums earned from tungsten, tin and tantalum mining used to support warlords and buy guns, it had not had the same effect on the gold industry.

"Gold is just less tractable as a mineral in terms of being responsive to this kind of regulation, because it's so easily smuggled," Fred Robarts, coordinator of the Group of Experts' report said by telephone from Kinshasa. "The total volume of gold moving is still quite high."

TRANSIT POINTS

Aside from output from Canadian miner Banro, Congo's only large-scale producer at present, the country officially exported around 112 kg of gold last year. But one mining official in Kinshasa estimated that figure is probably less than 10% of the actual amount.

That means more than 1 000 kg a year may be leaving Congo unofficially, worth more than $50-million in refined form.

While this is a tiny amount in the world gold market,gravel stone crushing line it can buy a lot of arms.

Silva Ucima, who runs an association for artisanal miners in Ituri, said only a fraction of the gold produced here is declared and shipped legally. The rest vanishes into neighbouring Uganda.

"Here people are just crossing the border into Uganda, selling the gold, and then coming back with other goods," Ituri mining official Simon Pierre Bolombo said.

Last year's Group of Experts' report identified Ugandan capital Kampala as a major transit point, along with Kenya's capital Nairobi, Bujumbura in Burundi, and Dar es Salaam and Mwanza in Tanzania.

From these centres, the gold can be re-packaged and sent on, much of its bound for the United Arab Emirates, a major refining and distribution hub. The Group of Experts' research suggested some 3 t of Congolese gold may have been laundered through Kampala into the supply chain in Dubai in 2010.

UAE customs officials declined to comment on the report. The huge gold trading centre has shown it is sensitive to ethical issues, and the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, working with the OECD, issued guidelines on responsible trading this year.

But controlling unofficial supplies is extremely difficult. One participant at a World Gold Council roundtable in Johannesburg last year said they saw travellers arriving in Dubai with suitcases of semi-processed gold for refining.

Gold can be mixed with metal from other sources and moulded into dozens of different forms, which can be melted down and recycled again and again. Even small quantities make big money.

Official figures do not specify where gold is exported to from Dubai, but traders say much of it is bound for India, the world's biggest gold consumer, and elsewhere in the Middle East. Those markets accounted for more than 1 000 t of demand last year - about 40% of global consumption.

US-listed companies sourcing gold from these markets, many times removed from its original source, for use in jewellery or electronic goods bound for the United States may decline to buy unregulated metal. But others won't worry.

"It's fair to say that consumer awareness [of conflict funding] is nowhere near as developed in India and China as it is in Europe and North America," says Michael Rae, CEO of the Responsible Jewellery Council.

GUIDELINES

Detailed guidelines for section 1502 are still pending. Even when the act is fully enforceable, companies will not be punished directly for buying from Congo and its neighbours.

But if their reporting turns out to be inaccurate, they could fall foul of SEC artificial stone crushing equipment disclosure regulations, leaving them open to civil and criminal penalties. In theory, directors could be held individually liable.

"Companies are concerned about the burden they are facing," said Tim Engel of law firm King & Spalding in Washington. "They are concerned about what would happen if they make a disclosure in good faith and it turns out to be inaccurate."

Supporters of section 1502 say the legislation, though imperfect, is an important part of a push towards greater accountability in the global gold industry.

Section 1502 was, for example, one of the pieces of legislation the London Bullion Market Association looked at when it drafted its guidance for refiners on its Good Delivery List, a key quality standard, earlier this year.

"It's a huge opportunity," said Annie Dunnebacke, a campaigner at Global Witness, which aims to increase awareness of conflict and corruption around natural resources.

"It is the first time there is a piece of legislation that actually tackles the issue of conflict financing and makes requirements of companies in a supply chain, particularly downstream, end-user companies."

But the very nature of gold is always going to make it hard to track and control supply, especially via legislation aimed at the upper end of the industry. To make a real impact, more direct action within Congo is needed to target the warlords who profit from gold trading.

Convincing traders in Congo that this is practical is likely to be an uphill task.

"How can we differentiate gold?" said Silva Ucima. "It's all yellow. How can you know where it comes from?"

The miner said the June production start met its originally stated timeline and that the commissioning of the mill circuit had also been consistent with its expectations.

The mill circuit had been running on a continuous basis since it received the first ore, with progressively more volume being added.

New Gold anticipated that the daily milling rate would continue to increase over the coming weeks. The company's target for commercial production at New Afton, defined as 30 days of operation at 60% of capacity, or 6 600 t/d, remained August. hot sale beneficiation equipment

In addition to the recent mill production start, New Afton's underground mining operations, which began in the fourth quarter of 2011, continued to perform well. The daily mining rate and the growth in the surface ore stockpile were tracking at or ahead of targeted levels.

hot sale magnetic separator price"We are proud to be in a position to deliver this project on schedule and to see it become the fourth operating mine in our portfolio.

"New Afton is an important part of the history of our company and we look forward to this mine becoming our most significant cash flow generator," president and CEO Robert Gallagher stated.

New Afton's total development cost remained about C$765-million, which was net of revenue from gold and copper sales between the start of production and the commencement of commercial production in August.

New Afton was forecast to produce 35 000 oz to 45 000 oz of gold and 30-million to 35-million pounds of copper at total cash cost, net of by-product credits, of $1 200/oz to $1 300/oz in 2012.

On a coproduct basis, the total cash cost in 2012 was expected to be $630/oz to $650/oz of gold and $1.35/lb to $1.45/lb of copper.

New Gold said the by-product and coproduct costs at New Afton were expected to decrease significantly in 2013 and beyond, as the mine hits its full capacity.

Further, New Afton's production forecast included gold and copper produced between mill hot sale spiral classifier start-up and commercial production. The revenue from this precommercial production would be offset against capital costs.

New Afton gold and copper sales from commercial production for 2012 were anticipated to be 20 000 oz to 30 000 oz of gold and 20-million to 25-million pounds of copper.

Over its currently estimated 12-year mine life, New Afton was expected to produce an average of 85 000 oz of gold and 75-million pounds of copper every year, at a total cash cost, net of by-product credits, of about $1 750/oz.

The total coproduct cash cost was anticipated to reach $525/oz of gold and $1.15/lb of copper.

New Gold's exploration team could now also drill the C-zone block of mineralisation that lay below and to the side of the New Afton reserve block in an effort to add to the mine's base 12-year life.

The company had budgeted $5-million for exploration at New Afton in the second half of 2012 to further explore and delineate the C-zone.

Platinum Group Metals holds a 70 percent interest in the War Springs project. Under the deal with JOGMEC, in return for an optional $10 million over five years, the Japanese company could earn 35 percent of that stake. The first year commitment was $500,000.

"This deal to me should be a signal to investors in general that there are groups around the world that have much longer-term perspective and are going to be prepared to take advantage of the rather shortsighted nature of the market at the moment," Platinum Group Metals President and CEO Michael Jones said following the announcement of the deal. portable mobile cone crusher

PGMs are critical to a number of industries in Japan, and according to ITOCHU Corp. (TSE:8001), a major Japanese trading company, the government has designated PGMs as one of the most important metal categories in the national resource acquisition policy.

In June 2011, ITOCHU announced its participation in the exploration and development of PGMs with Ivanplats Ltd. .

For 22.4 billion yen, approximately $280 million at that time, ITOCHU acquired an additional 8 percent interest in the miner's Platreef project in South Africa. The company had already spent $10 million to acquire a 2 percent stake in 2010.

The deal also entitled the trading company to production offtake rights proportional to its share. This part of the deal was intended to help secure PGM resources for Japan and its increasing interests in the resource sector, the company said.

ITOCHU said drilling had confirmed good PGM mineralization and a major high-grade underground deposit had been discovered. Platreef is located adjacent to Anglo American Platinum Ltd.'s (OTC Pink:AGPPY) Mogalakwena mine, and ITOCHU expressed optimism that its investment could result in a major mine comparable or better to that project.

The company also announced plans to utilize a JOGMEC financial assistance scheme for further project development.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp.'s (TSE:8058) request to launch precious metal ETFs, known as the Fruit of Gold series, was approved by the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2010. The new fruits included platinum and palladium ETFs.

Among other things, these products "in a broader sense, allow Japan to accumulate a stockpile of physical precious metals domestically by storing them in warehouses designated by MC within the country," Mitsubishi Corp. (MC) said.

Then, in March, MC announced another effort to help Japan get its hands on a supply of PGMs.

MC agreed to purchase shares of Stillwater Canada Inc., which holds 100 interest in the Marathon PGM project, from Stillwater Mining Co. (NYSE:SWC,TSX:SWC.U).

The $94.9 million deal consisted of $81.25 million to acquire 25 percent of Stillwater Canada and $13.6 million to meet the venture's first cash call.

Initial projections suggest the mine will produce about 200,000 ounces of PGMs, mostly palladium, over a 11.5 year mine life, with first production around 2016. MC has the option to purchase 100 percent of the PGM production. track mobile crusher

According to JOGMEC, the oil crises of the 1970s underscored Japan's vulnerability as a net importer of energy and raw materials. The experience highlighted the negative impact that rapid supply changes can have on the Japanese economy, the agency says.

In a recent presentation by Johnson Matthey (JM), the unique Japanese approach to autocatalyst manufacturing was put into perspective. Compared to other techniques, it uses higher loadings of more expensive PGMs because composition is linked to mine ratio. This is a strategy that is believed to be helpful in ensuring access to the needed metals. Analysts were also told that it is indicative of the long-term view held by the Japanese.

Industry cognoscenti have been warning that the risk of PGM shortfalls is growing. A number of them have said there is a possibility that the palladium market could move into deficit as soon asthis year.

Last year, gross demand for palladium from the autocatalyst sector hit an all-time high of over 6 million ounces. This happened even though there was a decline in Japanese passenger car production due to the natural disasters that struck in 2011.

According to JM, the surplus seen in 2011 was largely attributed to an increase in recycling and to investors returning about 565,000 ounces of palladium to the market whereas in 2010 they had purchased about 1 million ounces. There was also continued supply from the Russian stockpiles.

However, last year the volumes of metal from Russia declined to the lowest levels seen since 2006. In 2012, some palladium is expected is expected from the stockpiles, but how much is unclear.

This year, JM expects recycling to be subdued, and supply from the largest PGM producer, South Africa, to be flat. There are risks that production in South Africa may fall below expectations due to labor disputes and the government's commitment to safety stoppages. And then, there is also the unpredictable appetite of palladium investors.

Meanwhile, Japanese auto manufacturers are aiming to improve fuel economy. JM says that these attempts often result in lower temperatures of exhaust gases, which can require higher PGM loadings.

As is the trend globally, the Japanese are also looking to lower their costs and therefore increase the use of palladium as a substitute for platinum.

mobile closed-circuit plant Japan's efforts to ensure access could prove bullish for PGMs and palladium in particular, and may also drive further investment in exploration and development projects.

In the United States, about 365,000 individuals filed initial claims for jobless benefits, a considerable drop from the 392,000 claims filed last week and ahead of consensus forecasts of 375,000. Jobless claims are widely thought to be a proxy metric for the overall job market, and generally strongly correlate with the number of layoffs in the economy.

For investors, a positive result for the US employment market on Friday will likely restrain further speculation that the Federal Reserve will initiate additional quantitative easing, a prospect that is considered a catalyst for gold appreciation.

Supply concerns could support gold price growth

Nancy Curtin, Chief Investment Officer for Close Brothers Asset Management, discussed gold price volatility with CNBC, commenting, "if you look at the gold market a lot of the speculative interest has come out. It is actually basing quite nicely. We would like to see a close over $1,690 [per troy ounce] to begin to indicate a more positive trend. All these earnings [reports] indicate production problems. Production problems mean less gold on the market. Less gold on the market is supportive of the gold price." hot sale PE series jaw crusher

Company news

Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) reported first quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.09, slightly below consensus estimates of $1.11. The company benefited from a 22 percent increase in gold prices as well as better copper sales. Barrick is reviewing cost estimates for its $5 billion Pascua-Lama gold and silver project on the border of Chile and Argentina because of inflationary impacts on labor and materials. On a positive note, Barrick raised its dividend by 33 percent to $0.80 per year and maintained its full-year guidance of between 7.3 million and 7.8 million troy ounces of gold and between 550 million and 600 million pounds of copper.

Yamana Gold Inc. (TSX:YRI,NYSE:AUY) announced its first quarter results, which included adjusted earnings of $0.25 per share. Top line revenue increased 18 percent to $560 million from $476 million during the first quarter of last year. Yamana anticipates production targets for the year to be in the range of 1.2 million to 1.3 million gold equivalent ounces, a 13 percent increase from last year.

Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G,NYSE:GG) suspended construction of the El Morro gold and copper mine following the rejection of the $3.9 billion project's environmental permit by Chile's Supreme Court. Earlier in the spring the company indicated that it would continue developing the project unless Chile's Supreme Court upheld a decision by the Antofagasta Court of Appeals. Non-construction work on the project is expected to continue.

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Newmont Mining Corp. (TSX:NMC,NYSE:NEM) may have to raise the $4.8 billion budget for its Conga project in Peru after political opposition. Newmont is currently in the process of evaluating the project's economics with the potential to redistribute capital resources to other development alternatives in Nevada, Australia, Ghana, and Indonesia.

Investors will be interested in these developments as escalating costs could indicate that producers will be reassessing additional proposed projects with more careful consideration. Such attention could impact exploration budgets and merger and acquisition activity.

Junior company news

Angkor Gold Corp. (TSXV:ANK) entered into an agreement to acquire exclusive ownership of a new concession, Andong Meas, in Cambodia.

Calico Resources Corp. (TSXV:CKB) finalized plans for its 2012 exploration program at its Grassy Mountain project and expects to test additional gold occurrences on the claim group.

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Northern Vertex Mining Corp. (TSXV:NEE;OTCQX:NHVCF) added a second diamond drill rig to its current program at its Lemhi gold project and is waiting for the first round of results from its initial phase of drilling.

Gold prices have fallen three percent this week as concerns over the Eurozone debt crisis pressured the euro and other risk assets. Falling through the last three days, spot market gold prices traded slightly up on Thursday to the range of $1,595.40 per troy ounce.

The rise in gold prices on Thursday followed a four-month low during Wednesday's trading session, as the euro strengthened. The currency appreciation resulted from Spain's plan torestructure domestic banking and the European Financial Stability Fund's (EFSF) approval of an important emergency payment to Greece. copper ore beneficiation equipment

India currency playing a role

Suki Cooper, Vice President and precious metals analyst within Barclays Capital's Commodities Research team, discussed the role of physical gold demand, commenting, "gold struggled really because of the physical market. It has proved to be much more fragile this year than it had [been] last year. Last year we saw the two key buyers, India and China, continuously coming in to support the dips. This year activity has been a little bit lackluster, but we still think the macro backdrop is gold favourable."

Although the weak rupee has played a critical role in constraining physical demand for gold, support may be stronger during the second half of the year. Seasonal traditions and latent demand could lead to appreciating gold prices following the federal government's decision toeliminate an excise duty on jewelers that it imposed earlier this spring.

Company news

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) announced strong first-quarter earnings due to higher gold prices, improved margins, and a $90 million net tax credit. The company reported that adjusted earnings, excluding one time items, climbed 46 percent to $1.11 per share from 76 cents in the prior three months.

Operational challenges caused the company to miss initial production guidance of 1.03 million ounces for the first quarter. Safety stoppages in South Africa caused a six percent decline in production. Although the company gets 40 percent of its global output from South Africa, Anglogold maintained its production target for the year of between 4.3 million and 4.4 million troy ounces of gold.

Osisko Mining (TSX:OSK) shut down the mill at its flagship Malartic mine after a fire broke out just before midnight on Wednesday. The fire was in the cyclone separator portion of the mill. The mine is located just west of Val d'Or in Quebec and produced 200,137 troy ounces of gold last year, with the company forecasting average output of 625,000 troy ounces during its first five full years of operation. In February, Osisko announced a production target range from 610,000 troy ounces to 670,000 troy ounces for this year. The company is due to report its first quarter earnings after markets close on Thursday.

Investors should note these operational and safety challenges from gold producers as they could affect market supply. Statistics South Africa reported that the country's gold mining production remained weak, with volumes dropping 11.6 percent from the previous year ending in March. Supply constraints for physical gold may support future spot market price movement and lead to price appreciation for buyers of physical gold.

Junior company news

Lion One Metals Ltd. (TSXV:LIO) announced the latest exploration results from its Tuvatu gold project. The company announced that it has extended gold mineralization over one kilometer to the west of the project.

PJX Resources Inc. (TSXV:PJX) discovered four large geophysical anomalies that may represent porphyry style gold-copper deposits and/or possible Sullivan-type lead-zinc-silver deposits on its Eddy Property.

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