Gold Bear Market Hits Hardest in South Africa Mines: Commodities

Bloomberg (26/6) - No one has more to lose from gold’s bear market than South African producers as workers digging in the world’s deepest, costliest mines threaten to bring them to a standstill unless pay is more than doubled.

A record quarterly drop in the metal to as low as $1,270 an ounce is already below production and capital spending costs at Sibanye Gold Ltd., Harmony Gold Mining Co. and Gold Fields Ltd., figures compiled by Bloomberg show. Harmony’s South African output costs are the highest of the world’s 12 biggest producers by volume, according Bloomberg Industries.