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BUSINESS
Denver Gold Forum piques interest from investors
By Liezel Hill
Bloomberg News
POSTED: 09/21/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT | UPDATED: ABOUT 22 HOURS AGO
The Denver Gold Forum, the industry gathering that usually sees attendance drop when gold prices fall, is drawing more investors seeking value in battered equities this year.
Attendance at next week's event at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Colorado Convention Center, probably will match or exceed last year's record even though gold is down, said Tim Wood, executive director of the Denver Gold Group, which organizes the invitation-only conference. The event, which also brings together mining executives, analysts and brokers, has received increasing interest from value investors who traditionally haven't had exposure to gold equities, he said.
Miners including Barrick Gold Corp. and Greenwood Village-based Newmont Mining Corp., the two largest by output, have announced at least $26 billion of writedowns since July and are cutting spending plans after the steepest price drop in three decades. That has weighed on the 30-company Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold and Silver Index, which has dropped 46 percent since Sept. 12, 2012, the final day of last year's gold forum.
"Obviously, there are a lot of people that are hurting, but at the same time it seems to have attracted this new segment in the buy side, and we are getting bigger numbers there," Wood said.