These miners have speculative appeal

Article Excerpt

YAMANA GOLD $3.83 (Toronto symbol YRI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-815-0220; www.yamana.com; Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $3.6 billion; Dividend yield: 0.7%) owns and operates six gold mines, in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. It also holds 79.3% of Brio Gold (symbol BRIO on Toronto), which owns three of its ow mines in Brazil. Yamana holds a number of other properties in advanced stages of development. In February 2016, the company bought the Riacho dos Machados gold mine in Brazil for $51 million. This openpit operation produces 100,000 ounces per year. In the three months ended March 31, 2017, Yamana’s overall gold production fell 9.2%, to 257,533 ounces from 283,757 a year earlier. The decrease came mostly from a new mine plan at the El Penon site. It eliminated mining of less-profitable reserves. Gold prices rose 2.6% in the latest quarter. That offset the lower production, and pushed up Yamana’s cash flow by 1.8%, to $117.2 million, or $0.12 a share, from $115.1…