Top 4 Gold Miners Average Yield Declines… Even With High-Grading
Unfortunately, this short-term band-aid comes at a cost. When the mining companies choose to high-grade they are left with lower quality ore in the future that is more expensive to extract.
If we look at the chart below, the top 4 gold miners increased yields in half of their operations, while the other half stated declines. Barrick had 5 of its mines (regions) show a decline in average gold yields, while three had increases.
The largest increase in average yield at Barrick came from its Goldstrike mine which surged from 4.14 grams per tonne (g/t) in Q1 2013 to 6.78 g/t in Q1 2014. However, Barrick’s Cortez mine’s average yield declined from 4.45 g/t in Q1 2013 to 1.27 g/t in Q1 2014.
Newmont suffered declines in yields at seven of its mines while five managed slight increases. AngloGold reported increased yields at its underground and open-pit mines, however yields declined at its heap leach operations.