We agree for the most part, except JIM you forgot one important aspect of mining, that is many mines are polymetallic, so they extract many other minerals including gold in their process. Should gold gravitate to zero, these mines will treat it as a by-product, and thus only assign the incremental costs associated with the ore or even possibly leave it unprocessed for a period of time. If gold is a by-product then the full weight of production costs will not be attributed.So even at $50 an ounce, some miners may still be able to produce it on a break-even cash basis because the cost assignments are arbitrary.
Anyway we are happy you enoyed our article - "Gold is a Psychotic Placebo - NOT AN INVESTMENT." And by the way, we confirm that old story about gold mines - 99% of all stock mining ventures end up being worthless. And yes, it will be very hard for these sociopaths to attract capital in the future. That's one good thing for the greater cause - our future generations!
INVESTORS' INSIGHTS
First Financial Insights
July 10, 2013
Somewhere Under A Rainbow