The number of shares in Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:HMY) that Van Eck Associates holds has been increased. Van Eck Associates now holdings approximately 15.01 percent of Harmony Gold Mining’s shares. Prior to this, Van Eck Associates held 14.50 percent of the shares of the South African gold producer which translated to about 63,428,670 of the shares.

With this increased shareholding, the top institutional shareholder of Harmony Gold is now Van Eck Associates.

Consistent dividends

Among the gold mining stocks, Van Eck is one of the few that still pays out a dividend to the shareholders. In fiscal year 2016, Van Eck distributed dividends to shareholders of about $16 million. This was made in quarterly payments of, on average, four cents. This translated to a dividend yield of 1.29 percent.

Compared to competitors, the proven and probable gold reserves that Harmony Gold has amounts to about 36.916 million ounces. This makes it an attractive opportunity vis-à-vis competitors. By putting their money in Harmony, investors not only benefit by gaining an exposure to gold but they also benefit from the rising prices of gold. This is especially true when gold is once again proving popular due to the uncertainty in the world brought about by a possible decline in world trade as a result of protectionism that could set in following the rise of populist and nationalistic politics in the United States and Europe.

Papua New Guinea operations

Harmony Gold has in its portfolio several surface operations in South Africa, one open-pit mine, and nine underground mines. The gold producer also has operations in Papua New Guinea and this includes several mines in development and one open-pit mine.

The downside to investing in Harmony Gold are potentially illegal mining activities, political instability in South Africa, power shortages, and common labor strikes. Political stability, especially, is having serious consequences for the South African economy and one of the hardest hit sectors is mining which contributes about seven percent of the country’s GDP.

Papua New Guinea does not offer a respite though as it suffers from problems afflicting developing countries.

On Monday shares of Harmony Gold Mining Co. edged downwards by 2.18 percent to close the day at $2.69.