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

Price 11.0-12.0 pence, up 2.2%. The blue has been a long time coming.

Price 11.5-12.5 pence, up 6.6%, looking much better.

Back to 11.0-12.5 pence, though some larger buys have come through.

There was a 500,000 purchase at 11 pence this morning as well.

Price closing at 11.0-12.0 pence. Blue close and with the price now consolidated at these levels the price should start to rise over the coming days.
Buyers returning today, with some good buys reported today.

Xmortal,

AFD isn't done yet....22% rise today. With AFG isn't there another announcement due?

Go Gold :-)

nmjnmj

Hi there,

Yes there is one more announcement due very soon with AFG which should be a cracker (Independent report, earlier in the thread).

Ten day moving average is coming down now and should the price rise tomorrow then it will cross the ten day moving average tomorrow at a price of 12.25 pence which will lift the price in the upward trend again.

Investtech analysis (after today's close):

Positive Candidate (Medium term) - Feb 26, 2004
Has risen 1860% since the bottom on 7 Apr 2003 at 0.63. Is within a rising trend, which indicates a continued growth. The stock has support at p 2.00. High risk with a difference between the lowest and the highest price of an average month of 61%.

I want AFG to run as far up as possible but real gains will be once the above is achieve. AFD has to do the same. I would like to know what will be the situation once the dollar picks up again (likely after the elections??)

A bit of a drop again today after rising yesterday. Still support at 10/11p. Any views anyone?

Hi,

Current Price 10.5-12.0 pence.

News on one more operation will most likely be announced next week. MMs just trying to increase their stockpiles before it starts to fly once the news on the last operation comes through.

I still think after news on the last site is announced these will get to 20 pence in a matter of days.

Best Wishes,

Sue.

2 * 100,000 buys at 12 pence have just gone through, one after the other.

2 * 125,000 buys reported at 12 pence, one after the other again.

Investtech Analysis:

Weak Positive Candidate (Short term) - Feb 27, 2004
Has risen 650% since the bottom on 14 Oct 2003 at 1.50. Has broken through the floor of a rising trend channel. This indicates a slower rising rate at first, or the start of a more horizontal development. The stock has support at p 5.00 and resistance at p 15.00. High risk with a difference between the lowest and the highest price of an average month of 61%.

Positive Candidate (Medium term) - Feb 27, 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 and resistance at p 15.00. High risk.

Neutral (Long term) - Feb 27, 2004
Has risen 1700% since the bottom on 7 Apr 2003 at 0.63. Has broken through the ceiling of a falling trend channel. This indicates a slower falling rate initially, or the start of a more horizontal development. Has risen strongly since the positive signal from a inverse head and shoulders formation at the break through the resistance at 2.00. The objective at 6.40 is now met, but the formation still gives a signal in the same direction. Positive volume balance, i.e. high volume in days of rising prices and low volume in days of falling prices, strengthens the stock in the short term. The stock has support at p 3.00. High risk.

Gold climbs, but ends the week lower

By Myra P. Saefong, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 2:50 PM ET Feb. 27, 2004



SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Gold futures gained ground Friday, but closed out the week with a more than $1-an-ounce loss with near-term movement still dictated by the currency markets.

Gold for April delivery closed at $396.80 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.30 for the session, but down $1.20 for the week.

Still, Thursday's more than $4 rebound off the lows for gold futures has the "earmarks of bargain-hunting physical demand out of Asia," said Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter.

"Physical demand from Asian investors and savers, in combination with de-hedging by producers, has come in to support the gold price on every significant setback during this bull-run," he said.

Lundin warned that volatility in the gold market would continue for some time, "as gold works through a painful transition from a dollar-based bull market to multi-currency advance."

But this is "the first true gold bull market in the age of hyper-liquid capital, in which even small investors can easily and efficiently switch among the world's major currencies and investment sectors," he said.

In the end, Lundin said he's "confident that gold will emerge as a popular hedge against not just the dollar, but against every currency jockeying for the trade advantages that come with lower relative values."

That, however, "will take some time, and prices will remain on a roller coaster until then," he said.

Dollar moves fuel rough week

The dollar weakened a bit against the euro and yen Friday, after earlier showing steady gains on the potential for an interest rate cut in Europe. See Currencies Report.

"Gold has had a pretty rough week as an unexpected pop in the dollar took some of the air out of the yellow metal's sails," said Grady Garrett, chief trading strategist at EnergyTrendAlert.com, a commodity information provider.

"Profit takers also moved in as global market participants pulled back as they waited for some clarity in the foreign exchange markets," he said.

All in all, the gold market is "at the most critical point in years," said Peter Grandich, editor of investment publication The Grandich Letter.

He said the deciding factor for gold bulls will be whether gold can move back above $400. Meanwhile, the market bears continue to "toss multiple salvos of calls for a lower euro, yen and will likely toss the kitchen sink (talk of central bank sales) before it's all over," he said.

Copper, silver pull back

Also on Nymex, copper and silver futures pulled back Friday after climbing 3 percent in the previous session.

May copper closed at $1.346 per pound, down 0.8 cent. May silver closed down 1.5 cents at $6.715 an ounce.

Supplies of copper fell another 1,611 short tons to 242,703 short tons as of late Thursday, according to Nymex. Silver stocks were down 220,822 troy ounces at 123.7 million troy ounces.

Gold inventories stood at 3.48 million troy ounces, unchanged from the previous session.

Platinum and palladium futures ended higher. April platinum rose by $20 to close at $887.40 an ounce, while its sister metal, June palladium, tacked on $3.25 to close at $232.65 an ounce.

Mining shares up for a second session

Over in the equities market, metals mining shares traded higher for a second session, and key indexes for the sector were set for a higher close on the week.

Tracking the mining sector as a whole, the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index ($XAU: news, chart, profile) rose by 1.1 percent to trade at 100.14, and the Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI: news, chart, profile) added 1.1 percent to 225.245. The CBOE Gold Index ($GOX: news, chart, profile) traded at 86.3, up by 1 percent. The indexes closed out last week at 97.55, 222.3, and 83.69, respectively.

Among the index components, shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold (FCX: news, chart, profile), Durban Deep (DROOY: news, chart, profile), and Ashanti Goldfields (ASL: news, chart, profile) all gained more than 2 percent.

But among the big losers Friday in the mining sector, shares of Stillwater Mining fell as much as 16 percent after the platinum and palladium miner said Friday that a hefty asset impairment charge forced it to report a wider fourth-quarter net loss.

Columbus, Mont.-based Stillwater (SWC: news, chart, profile) also said it has appointed Gregory Wing, a former chief financial officer of Black Beauty Coal Co., as vice president and CFO.

The stock was last at $11.94, down 75 cents, or 5.9 percent after earlier falling to an intraday low of $10.70. See full story.

Myra P. Saefong is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in San Francisco.

www.africangoldplc.com

- Excellent website detailing every bit of information an outsider who might be interested would want to look at.

Price 10.5-12.0 pence.