the aussie pioneers of west africa gold

Production levels and grade in severe decline in Australia gold space.

Very few decent discoveries since tropicana. Those that are decent are in the deeps and hardly economical. No more low hanging fruit left in this country.

Looks like West africa just got even more lucrative...

Pioneers like AMX,GRY and of course PRU will be rewarded for their foresight in the years to come , as gold majors will be forced to go on the hunt from more ounces.

Burkina Faso the number 1 destination in africa for new mining investment in terms of growth.

AMX in the right place at the right time. Big things to come, wait and see. Todays valuation will be laughable in due course.



See article below :

Australia's Gold Production Drops 5% as Grades Decline - GFMS

05/09/2012 10:18AM


By Rhiannon Hoyle


SYDNEY--Gold mining output in Australia, the world's second-largest producer of the precious metal, dropped 5% in the first half of 2012 compared with a year earlier, international metals consultancy GFMS said Wednesday.

Production fell as mining companies recovered less gold from processed ore and some operations neared the end of their lifespans, according to the consultancy, a unit of Thomson Reuters Corp.

Australian gold production was 122.5 metric tons in the first half, down from 129.1 tons a year earlier, GFMS said. It added that a key contributing factor to the decline was lower output at Newcrest Mining Ltd.'s (NCM.AU) Cadia Valley operations, after the company processed lower-grade stockpiles.

Recovery rates at Australia's two largest gold mines--Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) and Barrick Gold Corp.'s (ABX) Kalgoorlie Super Pit, and Newmont's own Boddington mine--also declined, it added.

Production at other Australian mines, including Ramelius Resources' Wattle Dam operation, slowed as they neared the end of their lives, GFMS said.

The world's top gold producer, China, meanwhile continued to race ahead, with production growing by 7% in the first six months of the year, taking output of the yellow metal to 182 tons.

More than half of the top-10 gold producers worldwide reported a drop in production as grades declined across the industry, construction and commissioning was delayed, and amid a slower-than-expected ramp-up of operations in key producing nations such as the U.S., South Africa and Russia.

Gold production globally was flat at 1,366 tons, GFMS said.

The consultancy said mining costs in Australia also remained under pressure. The average cost of producing a troy ounce of gold in the first half of the year was US$856, up from US$756 a year earlier.

"General inflationary pressures, a skilled labor shortage and lower output at a number of properties drove costs higher," GFMS said in its report.

Still, Australian producers benefited from a small increase in the gold price relative to other countries. In Australian dollar terms, the gold price rose 1.2% in the first half of 2012, compared with an 0.03% increase in U.S. dollar terms and a 1% rise in yuan terms.



Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at [email protected]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires