Loading ...JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Expenditure on exploration has been declining to such an extent that a break in the continuity of global gold production is inevitable. “It’s only a question of when,” says Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland, who points out that it currently takes 18 years to get a mine from grassroots exploration through to production, compared with ten years a decade ago, and that the average reserve life of gold mines is now down to 13 years. With exploration spend decimated and new mine spend not there, a supply gap is seen as certain over the next decade, says Holland, who finds the supply side of gold mining to be replete with issues. For example, the average grade of gold mined is now at a low 1 g/t and poised to drop even further to 0.82 g/t once existing reserves are depleted. Moreover, in real terms, the gold price has not increased since the high of the 1980s and all-in sustaining costs have soared 339% in the last 14 years. At the same time, shareholder value has been destroyed by between 50% and 80% since 2007, despite ongoing capital investment.
more http://www.miningweekly.com/article/gold-production-hiatus-on-way-gold-fields-2015-11-03