WGC's new metrics intended to provide more transparency to gold mining costs

Mining News  |  2013-06-28 03:40:43   |   By

The World Gold Council (WGC) has released a new framework to assess the gold mining costs in an attempt to provide more transparency to the costs associated with gold mining

NEW YORK (Scrap Monster) : The World Gold Council (WGC) has released a new framework to assess the gold mining costs in an attempt to provide more transparency to the costs associated with gold mining.

The Council has published a guidance note on “all-in sustaining costs” and “all-in costs” metrics, which gold mining companies can use to report their costs. It is expected that these non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) metrics would be helpful to investors, governments, local communities and other stakeholders in understanding the economics of gold mining. Most gold mining companies now use ‘cash cost’ metrics. The ‘“all-in sustaining costs” metrics by WGC also includes costs related to sustained production. The “all-in costs” include the entire varying costs over the mine’s life cycle.

According to the WGC, all companies involved in gold mining irrespective of whether they are members of the Council are free to use the metrics. The new metrics are being developed so as to provide greater clarity on costs and margins. Since many companies report on a calendar year basis, they may choose to use the metrics from next year onwards.