11. How much does it cost to mine a troy ounce of gold?
The price of extracting a troy ounce of gold from the ground has risen sharply in recent years. Higher labour costs, rising fuel costs and stricter requirements regarding working conditions and the environment have driven up the cost of gold mines. Due to the rise in the gold price, many new projects with a higher cost per troy ounce have also been started.
There are two ways to determine the cost of a troy ounce of gold. The total 'cash cost' is a term used for the costs that are directly related to the mining of gold. In addition, there is an 'all-in cost' that also includes all indirect costs, such as exploration required to map new underground gold reserves, the company's interest charges and management costs. The following chart from a Thomson Reuters GFMS report shows how high these costs were in 2013 and 2014 for all gold mines in the world. On average, the cash cost in 2014 was $749, while the all-in cost was $1,314.
Production costs gold mines in 2013 and 2014
Source: Thomson Reuters GFMS
