Will be interesting to see what they do if gold were to stay for a sustained period below say $800 US.
I would have thought the JV partners Barrick & Newmont would not just exit if gold stayed where it is now, for example, for say a 6 month period only. You would think it would have to be longer than that to change their plans. I'm sure right as we speak they are looking at ways to cut costs.
I checked the Superpit website and the planned closure is actually 2017.
Sure they won't continue for too long making losses but they would have their medium term views on the gold price. Also oil being lower must reduce their energy costs somewhat and the WA gas problem may resolve itself in the next 12 months.
But clearly to stay viable it seems gold must get back above $900 US sooner or later otherwise they may review their closure timeframe.
The interesting part is that they are actually expanding the mine which is part of the plan to take them through to 2017.
