TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The chances that gold prices will rise above the levels seen late last week are “good”, Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a BMO Capital Markets conference in Florida, he commented that declining global mine supply of gold, coupled with negative sentiment in global financial markets, boded well for the yellow metal. The presentation was also broadcast over the Internet.

On Friday, gold pushed through the psychological $1 000/oz level for the first time since March 2008, as investors sought a safe haven, amid concerns over inflation after US President Barack Obama signed the country's massive economic stimulus package.

“I think it's up to us to make hay while the sun shines, and make sure that we can produce the gold that will actually deliver results for shareholders.”

Johannesburg-based Gold Fields expects a “pretty sizeable increase” in profit for the current quarter, Holland said.

“We are very pleased with $1 000/oz gold.

“Does it have the prospect to go higher? Clearly it does,” he asserted.

“The fundamentals for gold are good and, from a sentiment perspective, with the situation around the world, with the financial crisis, I think that the possibility of prices going higher are good.”

Gold Fields has operations in South Africa, Ghana, Peru and Australia.

The firm produced 839 000 oz of gold in the three months ended December 31, 2008.

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