Worth repeating, as I have said before, Silverado Gold Mines production could be around $500/ton which would allow the company to mine at a profit, while the average production cost for the majors $1,100/ton. $900oz Gold will force the majors to mothball some of their projects while selling off the low grade projects in order to survive. With world wide high demand for physical gold soaring, Silverado Gold Mines could be among the few with a sign on the front door "Open for Buisness" selling the flavor of the day, high grade "Gold-Antimony" All the company needs to do is find the right financing to put the Nolan Creek project into production, and the world will beat a path to their front door!! GRIM REAPER's "DD" Work http://agoracom.com/ir/Silverado/forums/discussion/topics/579172-silverado-est-production-cost-500-vs-1-100-for-major-mining-companies/messages/1818780#message

Barrick Gold Corp slashes dividend, reports massive loss on writedowns

Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), the world’s largest producer of the precious metal, took $8.7 billion of writedowns and cut its dividend after gold prices fell.

Barrick posted a second-quarter net loss was $8.56 billion, or $8.55 a share, compared with net income of $787 million, or 79 cents, a year earlier

Gold-mining companies have announced at least $21 billion of writedowns in the past two months after the metal’s steepest quarterly drop in London trading in more than nine decades. Barrick wrote down the value of its delayed Pascua-Lama mine in the Andes by $5.1 billion and took impairments on other assets including goodwill and a copper mine in Saudi Arabia.

Chief Executive Officer Jamie Sokalsky is reviewing Barrick’s operations and selling assets after the shares dropped 48 percent in the 12 months through yesterday.

Barrick said it cut its quarterly dividend 75 percent to 5 cents, from 20 cents previously, to improve liquidity. The company paid $800 million in dividends in the last 12 months.

The company said it has abandoned a production target of 8 million ounces a year by 2016 because of the delay at Pascua-Lama, expected mine-plan changes and potential asset sales. Barrick said it’s reviewing operations to prioritize cash flow over production levels.

It’s also assessing closure options for Pierina in Peru.