AngloGold CEO: Gold could stay above $1,000

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold could stay above $1,000 an ounce in the second half of 2009 due to a combination of rising investment demand and a weakening U.S. dollar, the chief executive of the world's No. 3 and Africa's top gold producer AngloGold Ashanti said on Tuesday.

AngloGold CEO Mark Cutifani told Reuters in a telephone interview that the company has benefited from a reduction in its hedge book to be fully exposed to the upswing in gold prices.

Cutifani said that gold has become increasingly popular as an investment, and that could be evidenced by strong interest in gold-backed, exchange-traded funds. He also cited reduced sales by central banks and volatilities in the currency markets.

"People see gold as a much better bet in the long term, given it is the only true hot currency," Cutifani said.

"We are still with a view that the average for the second half will be in the range (from $950 to $1,000 an ounce), but it could quite easily beat that number given the positive sentiment that we are seeing," Cutifani said.

Gold rose above the $1,000-an-ounce psychological barrier on Tuesday due to a wave of pent-up technical momentum and dollar weakness, with some analysts eyeing last year's record high at $1,030.80.

On gold's role as a currency hedge, Cutifani says that the massive U.S. economic stimulus programs "would put pressure on the U.S. dollar, and gold is very well positioned in that context."

Asked if AngloGold would adjust its operations in response to $1,000 an ounce gold, Cutifani said the company's strategy remained, "Mine for value, not mine for the sake of it."

At the company's earnings announcement in July, Cutifani said he planned to slash the company's hedge book -- one of the largest among its peers -- by about 800,000 ounces a year, and to wind up its hedges by the end of 2014.

"We have restructured our hedge book over the last two years, and we have done very well," said Cutifani.

Hedging allows producers to lock in prices for future output, but it can backfire if spot prices rise above the hedged price. A recent rise in spot gold prices has prompted many miners to cut their hedged positions.

(Editing by Christian Wiessner)