1.   Forward sales for completion in the first half of this year are sufficient to meet internal targets, Mr Maunders said.

2.   In order to eliminate price exposure on other precious metal stocks we hedge the price wherever possible by forward sales.

3.   And concern that forward sales by producers will decline with surging lease rates for gold also is helping boost prices.

4.   As well as locking in more forward sales, higher gold prices dampens demand and increases the supply from outside gold mines.

5.   A forward sale takes place when miners sell gold borrowed from central banks which they will replace later with metal mined from their own deposits.

6.   For investors, the amount of forward sales is a major consideration, said John Gethin-Jones, manager of equities at Queensland Investment Corp.

7.   Gold consumption fell short of supply from new mine production, forward sales by producers and recycled gold, Gold Fields said.

8.   Gold prices were resilient in the face of the forward sales largely because vigorous demand from places such as India and Japan absorbed the selling, analysts said.

9.   Gold prices fell as producers stepped up forward sales to protect themselves against further price drops should other central banks announce sales of reserves, traders said.