RE: RE: news I also thought this was odd. The same factors that drove up gold exponentially since 2006 lie behind the increase in mine costs -- money printing and strong Chinese demand for industrial and precious metals (which had commodities producers competing for resources) drove up the cost of everything from labor to giant truck tires. I don't think it's reasonable to see the same kind of cost increases going forward unless gold were also to rise significantly, and then the NPV would also increase accordingly. Everyone just wants to be hyper-conservative until the market environment improves I think.