Shares of Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY) have bounced about 23% off their 52-week low of $8.31 set on December 2. The company reported fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday, missing estimates and cutting the dividend by nearly 35%, from an annual level of $0.26 to $0.15. The company also wrote down $574.2 million in impairment charges for 2013, virtually all of it in the fourth quarter.

We have noted before that the gold miners would be taking substantial hits due to the falling price of gold when they calculated the value of their proved reserves. Yamana used a figure of $1,375 per ounce in its 2013 calculation and lowered that to $1,300 an ounce for 2014.

Yamana’s results and write-downs reflect what is happening to the gold miners in general, but gold bugs are not convinced. Yamana’s forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is highest of any of the big gold miners at 27.71, and only Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) has a multiple below 23. (We have also got a look at some other gold miners that shows that enthusiasm for Yamana is not unique.) The following chart on the 50-day and 200-day moving averages for Yamana indicates what investors believe is the start of a rise in the company’s share price.

Yamana shares were down only 0.8% in the first few minutes of trading Wednesday, at $10.45 in a 52-week range of $8.31 to $15.66.

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