WSJ UPDATE: Brazilian Mining Magnate Batista Sees Gold Hitting $2,500/Oz

Eike Batista, chairman of Brazilian conglomerate EBX Group, predicted Monday that the price of gold will hit $2,500 an ounce.

Mr. Batista's remarks came during a lunch-time discussion at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference. The panel was moderated by The Wall Street Journal's Paul Gigot.

Mr. Batista didn't give a timeframe for his prediction.

EBX Group is a holding company that has operations in mining, energy and logistics. Mr. Batista is, however, no stranger to gold, having started off his mining empire during the Brazilian "gold rush" in the 1970s and 1980s, buying up gold produced by so-called garimpeiros, or wildcat miners, in the Brazilian Amazon, where he helped build up Canada's TVX Gold Inc. operation.

Mr. Batista later started to consider gold risky, selling out his TVX stake for $1 billion to Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN), which also bought his Minas-Rio iron ore mine as a part of a $5.5 billion iron ore assets package in 2008, just before iron ore prices slumped in the worldwide economic crisis and Mr. Batista strengthened his interests in oil, which looked more promising.

Displaying Mr. Batista's current renewed confidence in prospects for gold, EBX in March took control of Canada-based gold producer Ventana Gold Corp. (VENGF, VEN.T) through its international arm, AUX Canada Acquisition Inc., paying C$13.06 for each Ventana share, having raised its offer after a previous bid was turned down.

EBX, which owned about 20% of Ventana's capital before the deal, now holds a stake of 91.3% in the Canadian company, which has mineral rights to 4,591 hectares of exploration property in northeastern Colombia.

Gold for May delivery settled up 70 cents at a record $1,556.70 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

-By Ethan Smith, The Wall Street Journal; [e-mail]

--Diana Kinch contributed to this article