By early November 2014 the gold price had fallen by 13% from end of June to a four-year low on Nov. 5. With it, gold-mining equity indexes had also fallen to further lows, with the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index and NYSE Area Gold BUGS Index both down around one-third. Market commentators were asking how sustainable these kind of prices could be, and whether the cost of production could put a floor under gold prices. But by the time prices had fallen this low, we were already viewing a mining industry in a fundamentally unhealthy state, with projects shelved, exploration expenditure cut back and sustaining capital being thrifted or deferred where possible.
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