> Bob, a couple hundred thousand here, a hundred thousand
> there and after awhile you start adding up quite of bit
> of high priced production:
> northernminer.com
You have a lot of adding to do to make a serious impact on 82+ million ounces of production. The URL provided was password protected, but I know Eldorado did 43,338 ounces at a total cash cost of $207/oz, up from $185 last year.
That is about the number of ounces that Newmont and Barrick produce in Nevada in about two days.
The big are getting bigger (Normandy and Harmony, following acquisitions, are both heading to the 2.2moz level), the big are replacing reserves, and the small miners are becoming less important.
The last calculation I did shows the top ten gold producers accounts for 40% of production, the top 20 account for over 60%. You need over 100 small firms to make up he rest. I wish the majors would acquire many of these small ones, and either integrate them into their operations or shut them down. More consolidation and efficiency is needed.
Here's an example of a firm doing well:
"Meridian production increased 134% versus the prior year, to a record of 114,823 ounces of gold at a cash cost of $111 per ounce and total production costs of $175 per ounce"
biz.yahoo.com
That extra 65,000 ounces of production for the quarter should cover the 3,000 ounce drop at Eldorado ;) |
