Gold mining in Australia - January - March 2009

2009-06-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

There are currently 40 gold mines in Australia, gold is also extracted as a byproduct in another 13 mines.

In total, 1.69 million ounces were extracted during the March 2009 quarter, 78% of it in the largest 20 mines, each of which produced at least 25,000 ounces this quarter.

The following chart shows the production for the top 12 mines in Australia:

The Boddington operation will probably top this chart once it starts production later this year. It is expected to produce approximately 250,000 ounces per quarter.

As for production by company, the concentration is significantly larger, 80% of all gold extracted in Australia is done so by the top 10 companies.

January - March 2009 Attributable Production:

Up to 30 other companies are in involved in the extraction of the remaining 20% of production.

Again here, once Boddington starts production, we will see Newmont (100% ownership) topping the list.

As for costs, Australian mines generally have high cash costs. Only 13 mines have a cash cost below the world median total cash cost for gold mines of US$430/oz. Median total cash cost for Australian mines was US$534/oz for the January -March 2009 quarter:

and expect to see even higher total cash costs next quarter as the Australian dollar has climbed up to 30% against the US currency in the last 3 months.

Despite this, and thanks to the high price of gold (US$940 on Friday), the vast majority of the Australian mines will remain cash flow positive over the nex two quarters.

Reporting Season approaching

2009-06-26T03:41:00.000-07:00

With the June quarter almost gone, the reporting season for gold mining companies is fast approaching. Many companies have already set dates for their quarterly reports to be issued.
This is the case of the largest 5 companies by production:

Barrick Gold Corporation: July 30th
Newmont Mining Corporation: July 23rd
Anglogold Ashanti: July 31st
Goldfields: August 6th
Goldcorp: July 30th

Other large gold producers that have announced a date for the release of their quarterlies include:

Newcrest Mining Ltd: July 22nd
Harmony Gold: August 17th
Buenaventura: July 30th
Lihir Gold Ltd.: July 30th
Xstrata: July 28th
Rio Tinto: July 15th
Randgold: July 28th
Peter Hambro: August 27th
Northgate: August 10th
Polymetal: July 15th
Teck Cominco: July 22nd
Agnico Eagle: July 29th
Industrias Peñoles: July 28th
Crew Gold: August 14th
Oceana Gold: July 30th

As the time comes closer, the rest of the gold producers will be announcing their disclosure dates, but have in mind that the deadline for companies listed in the Australian Stock Exchange to release this information is on July 30th, and fro those listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange the deadline is on August 15th

Gold Mining Industry

Gold mining in Australia - January - March 2009

Reporting Season approaching