Gold Fields is Top Gold Mining Stock: Poll

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- There were a lot of market moves to watch this past week, but none captivated more than gold. All week, the sparkly stuff soared to record highs on the back of a weakening dollar.

Still, by the end of the week, the gold rally halted after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a boost to the dollar, raising the specter of increasing interest rates when the economic recovery eventually takes hold.

With gold putting on an impressive show for the year, we asked TheStreet readers which miner would be the best play on rising prices. Of the 165 votes cast, an overwhelming 45.4% of the vote went to just one operation: Gold Fields(GFI Quote).

On Monday, the Johannesburg, South Africa-based miner reported its attributable gold mineral resources and reserves stats for the year ended June 30th. Resources jumped to 271.1 million ounces versus the 250.6 million ounces from the prior year. Reserves landed at 81.1 million ounces, compared to the year-earlier 82.8 million ounces sum.

On Wednesday, analysts from Nomura(NMR Quote) downgraded Gold Fields to neutral from buy, along with third-place vote getter AngloGold Ashanti(AU Quote), which finished with 14.7% of the vote.

Harmony Gold Mining(HMY Quote), which garnered 15.3% of the vote to finish in second place, was raised to buy from neutral by Nomura.

Larger, more diversified operations BHP Billiton(BHP Quote) and Rio Tinto(RTP Quote) attracted the fewest votes, totaling 10.4% and 14.1% each.

Written by Sung Moss in New York

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