NewsWhore
06-04-2009, 05:31 PM
Crisis-related factors and other priorities of Barrick Gold mean that investment in the gold mining project in Pueblo Viejo, Cotui will suffer a delay in its implementation. This will impede the goal of capital inflow that was projected by the Dominican government authorities for 2009.
According to a report prepared for Hoy newspaper's economic section, economist Luis H Vargas attributed the delay to the restrictions on international financing, as well as to the reprogramming of the investment priorities of Barrick Gold's gold investment project, after its recent deals with Chile and Argentina concerning the launch of the income-producing phase of gold deposits at Pascua-Lama, located on the Chilean-Argentinean border.
The economist indicates that an increase in the cost of doing business and decline in yield has forced Barrick to give preference to their credit in the North American capital markets and go with investments with lower cash costs.
The study indicates that since 2007 and 2008, profit per ounce of gold has fallen 25.9% to US$103 from US$139, due to an increase in the cost of production that went from $350 to $443 per ounce. This coefficient in earning drop has also been observed in the first quarter of 2009 in comparison to the previous year.
Added to all of this is the fact that a Barrick study found that production costs at Pueblo Viejo would be around US$300 per ounce, while the bi-national project in Pascua-Lama is expected to be much less, in the order of US$50 or less per ounce of gold produced, an 83% difference.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
According to a report prepared for Hoy newspaper's economic section, economist Luis H Vargas attributed the delay to the restrictions on international financing, as well as to the reprogramming of the investment priorities of Barrick Gold's gold investment project, after its recent deals with Chile and Argentina concerning the launch of the income-producing phase of gold deposits at Pascua-Lama, located on the Chilean-Argentinean border.
The economist indicates that an increase in the cost of doing business and decline in yield has forced Barrick to give preference to their credit in the North American capital markets and go with investments with lower cash costs.
The study indicates that since 2007 and 2008, profit per ounce of gold has fallen 25.9% to US$103 from US$139, due to an increase in the cost of production that went from $350 to $443 per ounce. This coefficient in earning drop has also been observed in the first quarter of 2009 in comparison to the previous year.
Added to all of this is the fact that a Barrick study found that production costs at Pueblo Viejo would be around US$300 per ounce, while the bi-national project in Pascua-Lama is expected to be much less, in the order of US$50 or less per ounce of gold produced, an 83% difference.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)