Jul. 21, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Sino Gold Mining Ltd<1862>, the largest overseas investor in China's gold industry, is expected to book a net profit in the first half thanks to a 35% growth in production at its White Mountain mine in Jilin province, the Standard reported, citing a senior official of the company as saying.

The Australia-based company holds a 95% stake in the mine, which produced 8,825 ounces of gold in the first half of 2008.

Xu Hanjing, executive director of Sino Gold, said that he believes that the firm, which recorded a net loss of A$103.83 million (HK$645.5 million) in 2008, can be back in the black in the first six months of 2009, but he was unsure whether it could turn around for the whole year.

The Hong Kong-listed company's total gold output surged 51% year on year to 53,367 ounces in the second quarter, including 41,453 ounces from Jinfeng mine, which is located in Guizhou and is the firm's second-largest gold mine in mainland China. The company produced 51,100 ounces gold in the first quarter.

Xu expects gold prices to surpass US$1,000 (HK$7,800) per ounce by the end of this year due to higher demand and lower output. The price now stands at US$937 per ounce.

Xu also said that Sino Gold will look for mines in Guizhou Province, Yunnan Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Heilongjiang Province since it has US$99 million of cash on hand, which is enough to carry out further development.