See imbedded comments about Osisko that I received today from the automated news distribution system of my discount broker:
Osisko Mining Corp (OSK:TSX) - News Alert
FUNDVIEW-France's Amundi bets on mining stocks to ride commodities boom
By Niki Koswanage KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (Reuters) - Buying
mining stocks such as Canada's Ivanhoe and Brazil's Vale is the best way to tap into the supply constraints in copper and iron ore
and the safe haven appeal of gold, said Amundi Asset Management.
Political risks, high production costs and lack of adequate infrastructure are likely to drive up metal prices, said product specialist Sudeshna Andre, a spokesperson for Amundi's Global
Resources Fund. "This is a structural, long-term story. Coupled
with supply constraints and inflation, we are in another leg of the commodity super cycle ahead," she said in a media briefing in the
Malaysian capital. "Ivanhoe Mines is the most emblematic of this
story. It took years to negotiate with the Mongolian government.
Once it commences, it will cover 3 percent of (global) copper
supplies." The $6 billion Oyu Tolgoi project, owned by
Toronto-listed Ivanhoe, mining giant Rio Tinto and the Mongolian government, will be the world's biggest copper mine outside top
producer Chile once full operation starts in 2013. And the
development comes as a widening market deficit could propel copper to a record high this year with exchange-traded products fuelling
demand for the metal. "We have been in a copper deficit for 10
years, except for during the financial crisis and the dot com bubble burst. A new factor is the exchange-traded funds that will take up more supply," she said. , Copper and iron ore plays come under the materials weighting in the $106.6 million fund, accounting for a third. The rest of the weightings are equally
distributed between energy and gold-related stocks. France's
Amundi, which manages about 700 billion euros worldwide, was formed last year by combining the asset-management arms of Credit
Agricole and Societe Generale . , IRON ORE, GOLD While
political-risk concerns do not feature as much in iron ore, high capital expenditure by miners to bridge infrastructure gaps will
keep cost of production high. "Iron ore majors make up 75 percent
of the new iron ore volumes, but the high infrastructure costs will keep prices up. Also the long lead times for first shipment makes
supply tight," Andre said. A key stock pick for Amundi's Global
Resources Fund is Vale, which will invest a record $24 billion this
year. Vale expects iron ore prices to rise by around a fifth in
the second quarter. Andre said the fund has recently bought into
gold miners such as Canada's Osisko Mining Corp and Detour Gold Corp in view of the precious metal's growing appeal as an inflation
hedge. "We have a very strong conviction view for gold as
sovereign risk remains high in Europe, ETF flows are rising," she
said. Gold prices struck a record of around $1,444 an ounce last
week when investors searched for safe havens after violence in Libya and a downgrade of Greece's credit rating reignited worries
about eurozone sovereign debt. Although prices have fallen below
$1,400 on mounting fears of a nuclear blowout in Japan, Andre said central banks will spur demand for the precious metal to diversify
their holdings as the U.S. dollar trends lower. "Central banks
are becoming net buyers after being net sellers for 21 years," she
said. "Gold accounts for only 5 percent of reserves of BRIC
central banks. So reserve diversification is strongly needed and
this will support prices." (Editing by Vinu Pilakkott)
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