Aureus welcomes oil price slide
West African gold play Aureus Mining (AUE) reckons the latest fall in oil prices could shave some $30 (£20) off estimated all-in cash costs at its flagship New Liberty gold project in Liberia, where the AIM-quoted company expects the first gold pour in May, with fill capacity to be reached in July. That would take costs to $820 an ounce for New Liberty, if oil’s present weakness persists, against a current gold price of $1,276.95c an ounce and would provide a helpful boost to returns from the project, which Aureus expects to produce at a rate of 119,000 oz. a year by open pit mining for the first six years of an anticipated mine life of eight years.

