Looking up for gold mining capital Kalgoorlie-Boulder as prices rise and mines reopen

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Australian dollar gold price has hit record highs this year, soaring above 5-thousand dollars an ounce for the first time.  The record price is breathing new life into old mines that have sat idle for decades.

Transcript

00:00This is Buller Bulling, about an hour's drive from Australia's gold mining capital of Kalgoorlie, Boulder.

00:09The mine closed here in 1998 when the gold price was about $500 an ounce.

00:15The last time this pit was mined the gold price was ten times lower than what it is today.

00:19Buller Bulling was sold in January and it's hoped the mine could reopen in 2028.

00:25We've paid $166 million and we hope to be in production in three years time.

00:29Given the gold price has risen almost $700 an ounce since the deal, we don't have buyer's remorse.

00:35Four drill rigs are now turning to find some more pay dirt, with 80,000 metres planned this year.

00:42You know, there is upside here, no doubt. That's one of the reasons why we bought it.

00:45And I'm sure the economics here, once we go through all the studies, are going to look very good.

00:50It's a familiar story across WA's gold fields, with old mines being dusted off like old newspapers.

00:57In this region, the gold price has always made front page news.

01:01And it's gone up steadily from the doldrums of the 1970s.

01:08There's a great optimism within the city of Kalgoorlie, Boulder, saying where the gold price is sitting at the moment.

01:13The profitability that it makes for producers, in particular for those of low grade, becomes more economical.

01:19We're in the best place in the world here. We're in the gold fields, Kalgoorlie.

01:24You know, we've got the gold here, so we've got to make it work.

01:27We think it's at the beginning of the gold price cycle rather than peaking.

01:31There's lots of global events occurring, and it's all a tailwind for the gold price.

01:35A good time to be a gold miner.

01:38A good time to be a gold miner.

01:42I suppose the gold

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