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RE: GOLD FIELDS DENIES RUMOUR

[elducky]

If you arent a CBS subscriber, here's the article. JOHANNESBURG, Nov 8 (Reuters) - South Africa's second-largest gold producer Gold Fields on Friday denied market talk that it about to make a bid for Canadian peer Placer Dome Inc (CA:PDG) , but its share price still fell on investor concerns. "It's a vicious rumour and there is no substance to it," Gold Fields spokesman Willie Jacobsz told Reuters. Gold Fields' share price tumbled eight percent to a late-session low of 109.50 rand, extending Thursday's losses after releasing results that were below expectations. It closed at 110 rand, down 7.6 percent. It was the top traded stock by deals in Johannesburg <.AT.J>. It shrugged off a strong gold price, which hit a four-week peak of $323 an ounce on Friday, and underperformed the gold index <.JGLDX>, which lost 2.9 percent on a stronger rand. Gold Fields has been the Johannesburg market's favourite big gold stock, outperforming its peers by more than 21 percent between January and the end of trade on Thursday. But Friday's losses brought that down to about 19 percent. "It's the rumour about Placer Dome, even though the company has denied it. The feeling is that Placer Dome would be too big a chunk for them to bite off, particularly with its takeover of AurionGold," said David Le Roux of Sanlam Asset Management. Placer Dome on Friday extended its takeover offer for Australia's AurionGold Ltd (AU:AOR) for one week until November 15. As of Friday, the Canadian firm held 91.2 percent of AurionGold shares, enabling them to move to compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares. "They (Gold Fields ADRs) were hit quite hard in the U.S. last night. There was a rumour that they were going to take over Placer Dome, but we didn't think much of that," one dealer said. He said Gold Fields offered a good buying opportunity at present levels, and expected its share price to stabilise between 113 and 116 rand in the short term. Gold Fields produced 4.1 million ounces of gold in 2001. Placer Dome's 2001 production was 2.8 million ounces. Placer Dome is one of the biggest foreign investors in South Africa's gold mining industry, with its 50 percent stake in the South Deep mine. The rest is held by Johannesburg-based Western Areas Ltd .