Hi everyone. I just thought I'd chip in as I have considerable experience in offshore gold exploration and work for an offshore gold producer (though not Aussie listed).
We all work in USDs. While a sizeable portion of costs are in local currencies (e.g. labour), the big ticket items (e.g. hardware, imported supplies, expatriate salaries, etc) are typically in USDs. This means that the current trend of a falling US dollar, depreciating local currency and rising gold price is good for offshore producers (hence the money going into West Africa and Central Asia at the moment).
There was a discussion a while back on the Aussie gold price. It has typically been capped at $A600/oz over the last twenty years because of the close relationship between the dingo ($A) and gold. By implication, a strong break of $A600 would mark a major change and a local gold boom.
Conclusion: focus on the offshore producers at the right price (e.g. KCN is too expensive). OXR would be the pick at the moment, but RBK and LHG would have to be on the list. LHG attracts a PNG and single mine/program penalty, but is the most stable.
