Gold miners still a bargain compared to past peaks

New York

GOLD-MINING companies that are seeing their shares surge the most in decades are still cheap, based on historic measures of their reserves.

An index of large producers, including Barrick Gold Corp and Goldcorp Inc, has gained a whopping 87 per cent in the past three months, more than four times the gold-price rally. That's after three years of slumping prices made miners leaner, meaning more of the bullion gains flow through to their bottom lines.