PRODUCTION COSTS: U.S. AND CANADIAN GOLD PRODUCERS

摘要

The cost curve below compares available information on 2003 operating costs for 17 U.S. gold mines and 22 Canadian gold mines. The cost figures are plotted against each mine's percentage of its respective group's total 2003 gold production. Output from the U.S. mines totaled about 8.3 million oz in 2003, while the Canadian mines produced about 4.1 million oz. The average cash cost for the group of U.S. mines was 228 dollars/oz, with a weighted average cost of 215 dollars/oz. For the Canadian mines, the average cash cost was 245 dollars/oz, with a weighted average cost of 202 dollars/oz. Most of the Canadian mines arc underground operations using conventional cyanidation or flotation processing, while the majority of the U.S. mines are open pit, heap leach operations. Comparing 2003 production and costs with 2002, the number of active gold mines in the United States increased by one to 17, with the restart of Placer's 75 percent-owned Turquoise Ridge JV (Newmont 25 percent), formerly known as Getchell. The number of active gold mines in Canada remained unchanged at 22, while gold production from both countries increased slightly to a total of 12.4 million oz.