Newmont CEO Expects up to $1500 Gold This Year

Natural resources again landed in the spotlight, with Newmont inking a deal to buy Canada’s Fronteer Gold for $2.3 billion.

The offer represents a 37 percent premium to Fronteer Gold's Wednesday close of $10.25.

”We’ve priced the deal fairly and we feel great about the asset that we got,” says Newmont CEO Richard O’Brien in a live interview on CNBC’s Fast Money.

Of course he’s going to say that - he's talking his book. But O’Brien honestly seems to believe investors should be long gold.

"For me this is a year where we see gold trade between $1300 - $1500 and I see continued upside from there over the next couple years."

And he’s putting his money where his mouth is. O’Brien tells us he’s not hedging. "Our investors want 100% exposure to gold price and we're going to give them that."

Among the reasons he's bullish, is his belief that we're in a super-cycle that will drive gold demand for quite some time. For example, O'Brien believes the growing middle class in the emerging world, especially in China, is bullish for this precious metal and will generate additional demand for investment.

That doesn't mean he's blindly bullish. He's not.

”The worry point for us would be if the economy really slows down and we don’t see growth, particularly in China and India. If that’s forecast wrong, then gold goes down. Otherwise we’re in a great spot. I think there’s a lot of shine in this metal.”

Check out our entire and exclusive interview with Newmont CEO Richard O’Brien. Watch the video now!

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Trader disclosure: On Feb. 3, 2011, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders; Joe Terranova owns (VRTS), (C), (UPL), (GM), (PEP), (MS), (LTD), (CVI), (CVE), (SU), (CPX), (CNQ) and (POT). Guy Adami Owns (AGU), (C), (GS), (INTC), (MSFT), (NUE) and (BTU). Steve Cortes owns (SVU), (MO), (PM), (K), (SWY) and (EXC). Steve Cortes are long U.S. Treasuries. Steve Cortes is short (LVS). Steve Cortes is short Gold. Steve Cortes is short Crude. Karen Finerman owns (BAC), (AAPL), (BP), (C), (WMT), (MSFT), (JPM), (GOOG) and (HPQ).

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KAREN FINERMAN
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JOE TERRANOVA
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GUY ADAMI
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BRIAN KELLY
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BARRY RITHOLTZ
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ANDY BUSCH
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ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI
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CHRISTOPHER VERRONE
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BRIAN STUTLAND
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GORDON JOHNSON
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FAST FIRE 12/21/2010
Guy Adami had no disclosure in (JEF) on 12/21/2010

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