Canadian gold mines keeping costs down

According to Consolidated Goldfields’ Gold 1989 publication, the average operating cost for non- communist gold producers was $249(US) last year.

A brief survey by The Northern Miner of several major Canadian gold producers shows that many of them still have operating costs comfortably below that figure.

With the current gold price hovering around $373(US) per oz, many investors will be keeping a close eye on the cash operating costs of the gold producers in their investment portfolios.

As an increasing number of Canadian firms step up their search for even lower cost gold deposits in the Pacific Rim and Latin America, average production costs for the major companies could fall even further in the years ahead. Weighted average cash operating costs1988 Country$US/oz South Africa 275 Australia 238 United States 223 Canada 214 Philippines 208 Company American Barrick 280 Cambior 250 Corona Corp 210 Echo Bay 232 Hemlo Gold 115 Lac Minerals 259 Placer Dome 242 Agnico Eagle 320

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