I don't believe that the mentioned "African Gold Zimbabwe" is AFG, but the article does demonstrate rapid resurgence of E&P in Zimbabwe:

Mining Giants Plan Massive Diamond Prospecting

The Herald (Harare)

January 22, 2004
Posted to the web January 22, 2004

Harare

MINING giants, De Beers Zimbabwe Prospecting Limited and Circle Three Mining Corporation are proposing a massive diamond prospecting project that will see the two companies prospecting for the mineral in Gweru, Harare, Bulawayo and Kadoma mining districts.

The two mining companies intend to prospect for diamond in areas covering a total of 448 180 hectares.


Another company, African Gold Zimbabwe, has also undertaken to prospect for gold on two areas measuring 120 550 hectares within the Harare and Gweru mining districts.

De Beers Zimbabwe Prospecting Limited, Circle Three Mining Corporation and African Gold Zimbabwe have applied to the Mining Affairs Board for an exclusive prospecting order for 12 areas under the four mining districts.

In the latest issue of the Government gazette, the Mining Affairs Board said De Beers, Circle Three Mining and African Gold Zimbabwe intend to prospect for diamonds and gold over an area of approximately 568 730 hectares from the three areas.

"The applicants intend to prospect for diamond within the areas, which have been reserved against prospecting pending determination of this application.

"Prospecting authority is sought upon registered base mineral blocks within the reservation," read part of the notice.

One of the two diamond prospecting projects to be undertaken by Circle Three Mining measures 65 000 hectares and is bounded by a line commencing on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border approximating five kilometres.

All areas, which have been earmarked for prospecting are within the 15 000 hectares and 65 000 hectares range and are mostly in the traditional mineral bearing areas of the country.

The proposal to prospect for diamond in the country comes at a time when the US$41 million Murowa Diamond Mine has started to operate following the successful relocation of 141 families which were on the mining site.

Mining is one of the sectors which has been depressed over the last five years but some of the players in the industry have said investors should look at non-traditional minerals.

An example that is often given is that of platinum, which is fast becoming the world's most lucrative mineral.

The mining of diamond in Zimbabwe is also fast gaining pace and it is expected that some of the mining projects would create a lot of employment.

Relevant Links

Southern Africa
Mining
Zimbabwe

Gold ticks higher as dollar dips

Precious metal trades at $399.70 an ounce after sharp jump in U.S. currency prices last week.
February 23, 2004: 8:17 AM EST



LONDON (Reuters) - Gold prices inched higher Monday to drift just under $400 an ounce as last Friday's jump in the U.S. dollar limited buying in the precious metal for investors seeking havens.

Dealers said the market had garnered some support from buying at current levels, but all eyes were expected to stay glued on the dollar for definitive direction.

Analysts said the market looked set for a choppy ride this week in tandem with the dollar, as players were still convinced that the U.S. currency's overall downtrend remained intact.

After months of heavy selling, the dollar rocketed about two percent against major currencies Friday, led by a move up against the yen after news Japan had tightened security as more troops left for Iraq.

Gold rose $1.70 to $399.70, compared with $398.00 last quoted in New York Friday.

"I suspect the pattern of trading will be choppy, not just for today but for the coming weeks because it does look as though the trend decline in the dollar is still there," HSBC metals analyst Alan Williamson said.

"The fact that the $1.30 line in euro/dollar seems to be quite an important resistance level means its probably going to be quite difficult to get through," he added.

"So I can see the euro-dollar bouncing between $1.23 and $1.30, and gold bouncing between $395.00 and $410.00," Williamson said.

In the currency market, the dollar hit a new three-week high of $1.2450 in early trading, before paring its gains to $1.2566.

Gold, which inversely tracks movements in the currency market, failed to hold above $416 an ounce last week even after the euro set a new record high against the dollar.

Dollar selling pushed gold to a 15-year peak of $430.50 an ounce January 6.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright 2004 Reuters All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Gold Gains From Lowest in Almost Three Months as Dollar Drops
Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Gold futures in New York rose from almost a three-month low as the dollar fell against the euro and yen, boosting the metal's appeal as a store of value.

The rise may signal a new rally in gold after its first weekly decline in three weeks, said Richard Radez, vice president of precious-metals trading at David A. Noyes & Co. in Indianapolis. The dollar rose against the euro on Friday on speculation European officials would stem their currency's 16 percent advance in the past year.

``The market looks great for gold bugs,'' Radez said. Any buying of dollars by the European central bank ``is like money down the drain,'' he said. ``The long-term trend is going to continue.''

Gold for April delivery rose $1.80, or 0.5 percent, to $399.80 an ounce at 10:44 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal had fallen 7.8 percent from a 15-year high of $431.50 an ounce on Jan. 6.

The dollar has slumped in the past two years on widening U.S. trade and budget deficits. The trade gap in December was $42.5 billion, the second-widest monthly amount ever, as oil prices rose and imports of other goods rebounded. In 2003, the deficit was $489.4 billion, the widest ever, because of record imports from China.

``The U.S. is the largest debtor in the world,'' Radez said Radez. ``I continue to see an outflow of investment out of the U.S.''

Gold to Reach $500?

The dollar will fall 15 percent against the euro in the next 12 months, and gold will rise to $450 to $500 an ounce this year, Radez said.

The U.S. government had a budget deficit in January, the first for that month since President George W. Bush's father was in the White House, with expenditures outstripping receipts by $1.4 billion. A year earlier, the government had a surplus of $10.6 billion.

The shortfall may increase the likelihood that the deficit in the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, will grow to the record $521 billion forecast by the White House. The deficit in fiscal 2003 was a record $374.2 billion. The U.S. has boosted spending on the military and homeland security, while tax cuts and a stagnant job market have diminished receipts.

Hedge funds and other large speculators bought 70,305 more gold futures contracts than they had sold as of Tuesday, up from 60,286 the week before, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Friday. That marked the second weekly gain in six weeks.

Over the past month, gold has moved almost in lockstep with the euro's performance against the dollar, at a correlation coefficient of 0.91. The maximum reading is 1. The coefficient measures the degree to which two variables move in unison.



To contact the reporter on this story:
Choy Leng Yeong in Chicago at clyeong@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor of this story:
Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: February 23, 2004 10:49 EST

Price closed at 11.0-12.5 pence today.

Positive Candidate (Medium term) - Feb 23, 2004
Has risen 1700% since the bottom on 7 Apr 2003 at 0.63. Is within a rising trend. Continued positive development within the trend channel is indicated. The stock has support at p 2.00. The average difference between the lowest and highest price of a month is 60%. The risk is therefore high.

Weak Positive Candidate (Short term) - Feb 23, 2004
Has risen 650% since the bottom on 8 Oct 2003 at 1.50. Has broken the floor of the rising trend, which indicates a weaker initial rising rate. The stock has support at p 5.00 and resistance at p 15.00. The average difference between the lowest and highest price of a month is 60%. The risk is therefore high.

The short term indicator has been upgraded from Neutral to Weak Positive Candidate at Investtech.

More weakness today with the price of AFG. 10.5-11.5 pence. The price will hit the bottom sooner than later.

Hi Sue!

What's the bottom price for AFG? When will it go up again?

It depends when those who took part in the placing stop selling. Have not seen any big sells so far today so maybe today??? Then again I thought we had seen the bottom yesterday afternoon.

The fundraising announcement came before the news on the 2 remaining sites. The price will very soon be back up over the coming days.


Current price of 10.0-11.25 pence is very cheap!

Then again 9.75-11.00 pence now.

We have found the bottom now for sure, price 10.0-11.5 pence.

10.50-11.50 pence now.

It is on the AFG Web-site that they were looking at 4 possible sites. Two have been announced, and a Report in other web-sites suggests that the last two are the biggest of the 4 sites they had SERIOUS interest in.

Teeling has had plans to develop this baby for some years because it offered a way for him to drive the business to a position he would make some serious money. The political situation in Zimbabwe, and the Gold price stopped that happening until summer 2002. The share price languished as low as 1p for many reasons, but once the price of Gold started to rise in 2002 beyond the psychological $300 mark, it became imperative that old mines, and under-reseourced mines where investigated with a view to expansion when the upturn came.

For the last 2years Teeling and Co, had been looking for such sites. Big mining corporations had snapped up the best in the most politically stable countries, which left those in countries with shall we say a colourful past to explore.

Teeling even looked in South America, but found little to interest him. With an AIM listing on the FTSE he had access to some of the world's most knowledgeable people, and capital in abundance to finance his expansion plans.

The decision to appoint 5 new directors with strength and breadth in Gold stocks, Finance and Mining in general who were each willing to put up 100,000 Don't forget that..I'm sure most of these guys would be more than a little pissed to lose such a sum, and will be doing EVERYTHING in there power now that we have stabilized at $400 per ounce to get AFG into a position of strength.

They would not have done so on little or no evidence that Teeling had some sites that would pay back big-time to explore.

Those 5 Directors, and the institutions who put in 2,443,000 just weeks ago would have taken a LOT more convincing. Careers are at stake and they would not risk that kind of money without a great deal of assurance that things would pan out. AND that the directors KNEW what they were doing.

With 2 more sites that subject to due diligience will expand this little company into the price of AFD some weeks hence. Of that I am sure.

KEEP the faith, because with just 220million shares in issue, the vast majority in secure hands with either Directors, or institutions these will FLY


(ALL IMHO of course DYOR..I HAVE)

Price 10.5-12.0 pence, climbing back up.

Lots of delayed buys have come through between 10.5-11.5 pence.

We have not seen this much action since we moved up from the 6p area. I suspect more news is imminent and they are just trying to get as much stock as they can.

Fear not chaps, this is the time to top up not to sell. The money for development is in the bank and the management have their eye on expansion.

Some Large buys reported:

230,000 buy at 11 pence.
100,000 buy at 11.2 pence
9*50,000 buys reported at 11 pence today.

Gold at its highest for the day now at $402.30, up 5.10.

RNS Number:7746V
African Gold PLC
24 February 2004


Contacts:

John Teeling + 353 1 833 2833
Oliver Baring + 44 (0)7785 320567
Ian Rice + 44 0117 933 0020


24th February 2004


Option to Acquire Additional Gold Property in Ghana

The Directors are pleased to announce the signing of an exclusive option with
Ahanta Mining Co Ltd to acquire the Ahanta gold property located on the Ashanti
Belt in Ghana. Ahanta is located south and along strike from theSt. Jude/Hwini
Butre property (930,000oz Au) and the South Benso (0.5Moz Au). Soil and trench
sampling have defined a 1.2km-long zone of gold mineralisation open to the north
and south. Significant gold assays from trench samples are:

Trench No. Interval and Au grade g/t Au

T11 26m @ 2.43g/t Au
T8 12m @ 1.02g/t Au
T8 34m @ 0.64g/t Au
T7 32m @ 1.12 g/t Au
T5 4m @ 1.67 g/t Au
T4 12m @ 0.77g/t Au
T3A 6m @ 1.12 g/t Au
T2 8m @ 1.05 g/t Au
T2 32m @ 0.70 g/t Au

The potential for a bulk-minable open-pit gold deposit hosted in tuffaceous
sediments will be evaluated in the coming months. The Upper Birimian
volcano-sedimentary contact, commonly host to multi-million ounce gold deposits
in the Ashanti Belt, is located within the tenement. Due diligence on the
project is under way.

The company has the rights to earn an 80% interest in the property and has the
first rights of refusal to increase this to a maximum of 90%. An initial
consideration of US$20,000 has been paid. Further milestone payments are due on
the completion of due diligence and on the first, second and third anniversaries
of the agreement. The maximum aggregate consideration is US$155,000.

John Teeling, Chairman of AfricanGold commented "African Gold continues to
define and acquire mid to late stage gold properties in Ghana. The acquisition
of the Ahanta property is a major addition to what is developing into an
important Ghana gold portfolio and is an integral part of our strategy to become
a significant independent African gold miner.".

African Gold is an AIM listed company (AFG) with gold mining interests in Africa
www.africangoldplc.com


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

ACQKGGZZKDKGDZM

RNS Number:7746V
African Gold PLC
24 February 2004


Contacts:

John Teeling + 353 1 833 2833
Oliver Baring + 44 (0)7785 320567
Ian Rice + 44 0117 933 0020


24th February 2004


Option to Acquire Additional Gold Property in Ghana

The Directors are pleased to announce the signing of an exclusive option with
Ahanta Mining Co Ltd to acquire the Ahanta gold property located on the Ashanti
Belt in Ghana. Ahanta is located south and along strike from theSt. Jude/Hwini
Butre property (930,000oz Au) and the South Benso (0.5Moz Au). Soil and trench
sampling have defined a 1.2km-long zone of gold mineralisation open to the north
and south. Significant gold assays from trench samples are:

Trench No. Interval and Au grade g/t Au

T11 26m @ 2.43g/t Au
T8 12m @ 1.02g/t Au
T8 34m @ 0.64g/t Au
T7 32m @ 1.12 g/t Au
T5 4m @ 1.67 g/t Au
T4 12m @ 0.77g/t Au
T3A 6m @ 1.12 g/t Au
T2 8m @ 1.05 g/t Au
T2 32m @ 0.70 g/t Au

The potential for a bulk-minable open-pit gold deposit hosted in tuffaceous
sediments will be evaluated in the coming months. The Upper Birimian
volcano-sedimentary contact, commonly host to multi-million ounce gold deposits
in the Ashanti Belt, is located within the tenement. Due diligence on the
project is under way.

The company has the rights to earn an 80% interest in the property and has the
first rights of refusal to increase this to a maximum of 90%. An initial
consideration of US$20,000 has been paid. Further milestone payments are due on
the completion of due diligence and on the first, second and third anniversaries
of the agreement. The maximum aggregate consideration is US$155,000.

John Teeling, Chairman of AfricanGold commented "African Gold continues to
define and acquire mid to late stage gold properties in Ghana. The acquisition
of the Ahanta property is a major addition to what is developing into an
important Ghana gold portfolio and is an integral part of our strategy to become
a significant independent African gold miner.".

African Gold is an AIM listed company (AFG) with gold mining interests in Africa
www.africangoldplc.com


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

ACQKGGZZKDKGDZM