a$1,000 gold price would shut nst down?, page-14

kenorr,
I think you are right - thee is no link between costs and POG and management needs to be pushing costs hard. The first question is "shouldn't they be doing this even if POG is high? The real problem has been caused by the big boys (BHP, RIO etc.) who have adopted a "production at any cost" philosophy in the past and now expectations in the industry are through the roof. You will see some falling off in equipment costs as the smaller contractors are hurting and have gear parked up but I think it will take some time yet to get any real reduction in wages. Just look at the current push to get cooks on gas rigs $200k salaries. Most people in the industry expect big money and will continue to do so. The other real issue is that the productivity and skill level has dropped dramatically as well. Add to this the decline in technical and management skills by the younger people coming through (caused by not having the right guidance and mentoring) and you can come to the conclusion that the industry is in real trouble and a lot of it has been self inflicted.
Just my opinion