Australia’s post-pandemic gold rush March 24, 2022 (updated March 30)
“The one caveat to Australia’s blossoming gold industry is that, as is common with all commodities, deposits are becoming more difficult and expensive to mine, with miners having to go deeper and further to access high grade ore.
‘In Australia, gold ore is generally becoming more difficult and expensive to mine as ore quality diminishes,’ says Rundus. ‘A major portion of production costs for gold ore mining remain fixed and are significant, so the world price of gold and the value of the Australian dollar largely determine the industry's performance and profitability.’”
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“The Australian gold market was the world’s largest gold producer in the half year ending 30 June 2021,” says Rundus. “It has the world’s largest reserves and is forecast to grow at a rate of 8% over the coming years, propelled by both production from new mines and existing mine expansions.”
“‘The pandemic had a very limited impact on mining in Australia overall, as there was a relatively swift reaction from the government and key states – particularly Western Australia (which has the largest share of gold reserves at over 70%), where there have been very tight restrictions on access,’ says GlobalData’s director of mining research & analysis, David Kurtz.
Similarly, Mike Rundus, EY Oceania Mining and Metals leader, says: ‘In Australia we saw a strong response to control the virus by the Federal Government, and mining companies worked closely with State Governments to implement appropriate protocols to keep the industry open…As such, practically all the mines stayed open.’
Production in the region is also supported by the fact that the government’s exploration budget is the highest it’s been since 2012. Expenditure on gold exploration is of particular interest, amounting to a 10-year high of A$359m in March 2021, while analyst firm S&P Global Platts reported that Australia’s drill holes are currently the highest on record, also with a particular favour for gold.”
https://www.mining-technology.com/analysis/australias-new-gold-rush-the-post-pandemic-gold-industry/