John McMullin, geologist at the Geological Services Division of the Nova Scotia Dept. of Natural Resources, send CMJ a most though-provoking comment after reading yesterday's item about the resource estimate at Temex Resources' Gowganda silver project. First, he noted that the editor had mistakenly given a grade in g/t Au (gold) instead of Ag (silver). That has been corrected.
He went on, asking why we note gold grades in grams/tonne and contained gold as ounces. The short answer is because the majority of our readers do it the same way. His reasoning is thus:
"A tonne of gold might be worth about $49 million and even a kilogram at maybe $49,000 might be too rich for most folk. However, gold quoted at $49.xx per gram would make much more sense to the average geologist when he or she is reading grades and reserves in metric and wants to put a quick value on the reserves. I'm sure most miners around the world are using metric. It's high time the currency markets started using something more modern than troy ounces to quote prices.
"How about asking a Hot Topic question on what folk think about quoting gold prices in Canadian dollars per gram," he added.
So we shall ask that question of CMJ readers: Would you like to see gold prices quoted in Canadian dollars per gram?
Go to our home page at www.CanadianMiningJournal.com and scroll down the left-hand side of the page to vote. We would like to register hundreds of votes to get a reasonable picture of our readers' preferences.
Comments
Garth Kirkham
Interesting thought however we must keep in mind that Press Releases and NI 43-101 Reports and resource estimates are not for the benefit of the “average geologist”. They are supposed to inform the average investor (most of whom do not have any geological background) and any disclosure must not misrepresent or be misleading. To the average investor and to the public, they think in ounces.
If the author of a particular press release or report feels that the public is better informed using metric, imperial or both, then that is his/her choice and mnust be given the latitude to do so.
Just my opinion.
John McMullin
If the resource estimate or press release , or magazine article is written for the average investor, who is only familiar with ounces, then the grades should also be quoted in oz/t. The two systems of measurement should not be mixed. It would be a good start if the London daily gold price was quoted as a price per gram as well as per ounce.