Gold CEOs Told to Fix Slump With Investors Restless: Commodities
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Gold-mine investors are losing patience with management in the $60 billion industry as their shares head for the first back-to-back annual slump since 1998, even as the metal completes a dozen years of gains.
Producers from Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s biggest, to Newmont Mining Corp. of the U.S. are failing to control expenses. The average cost to extract an ounce of gold by the largest miners jumped 23 percent to $584.70 in 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show. In contrast, silver production costs fell 12 percent to the lowest since 2007, the data show.