Latest quarterly global AISC
Production economics
Cost is a stack, not one number.
Use the global benchmark for comparability, then descend into regional aggregates and company samples. The further down you go, the more the accounting basis matters.
Production-weighted paid ounces
Q4 AISC · $1,706/oz
The most recent global quarter. Sustains existing operations and is the lead benchmark for current price-gap scenarios.
FY average · $1,521/oz
Production-weighted annual cost across paid 2025 ounces. It is not a year-end point or necessarily a simple four-quarter mean.
AISC + growth · $1,989/oz
Q4 AISC plus $283/oz: the implied growth-capex allowance in the $1,804 FY large-producer proxy. Not an observed Q4 aggregate.
+15% tax & finance · $2,287/oz
Requested standard model on $1,989. Transparent and adjustable; not a reported global tax or financing rate.
Sensitivity · not a global observation
Tax + finance overlay
- Q4 AISC
- $1,706
- Growth allowance
- +$283
- Tax + finance
- +$298
- Broader total
- $2,287
Default 15% is the requested standardised model. One large-producer reality check was about 19.7%, but worldwide tax varies by price, jurisdiction and loss pools; finance varies with capital structure. Royalties already in AISC are not added again.
Selectable price-gap lens
How wide is the margin?
Cost basis
Price basis
Gold price$4,068
Q4 2025 global AISC$1,706
Dollar gap$2,362
Gap ÷ price58.1%
Gap ÷ cost138.5%
The $283/oz growth-capex allowance is the difference between the $1,804 FY peer proxy and $1,521 FY global AISC, applied to Q4 as a scenario. The 15% overlay is a transparent tax-and-finance assumption, not an observed global statistic. Cross-period gaps are not realised producer margins.
Geographic explorer
Public AISC coverage
No public 2025 sovereign AISC series exists. Cost fills are producer samples.
<$1,200$1,200–1,550$1,550–1,850$1,850–2,100$2,100+USD/oz unless shown · click a country
Agnico Eagle FY 2025 · worked example
Where one reported AISC dollar went
Mine production
$965
Inventory movement
$11
In-kind royalty
$50
Hedges
$1
Smelting, refining & marketing
$8
By-product credits
−$56
Sustaining capex incl. exploration
$274
Corporate G&A
$68
Reclamation & sustaining leases
$18
This is a company reconciliation, not the global mix. Marketing is already inside cash cost. Only sustaining exploration is inside AISC; growth exploration, tax, interest and dividends are excluded.
Same-source regional snapshot
Q3 2024 regional AISC
Use this for regional comparison only. It is an older, same-period WGC/Metals Focus snapshot and should not be mixed into the 2025country table as if vintages matched.
Regional methodology2025 coverage register
Country and mine-sample table
| Country | Region | 2025E output | Geological reserves | AISC observation | Basis | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | East Asia | 380t | 3,200t | No public comparable | Production and reserves only | N |
| Russia | Eurasia | 310t | 12,000t | No public comparable | Production and reserves only | N |
| Australia | Oceania | 280t | 13,000t | $1,637 | Gold Fields portfolio sample | B |
| Canada | North America | 200t | 3,200t | $2,020 | Brucejack one-mine sample | B |
| United States | North America | 160t | 3,000t | $1,620 | Nevada Gold Mines aggregate | B |
| Ghana | Africa | 150t | 1,000t | $1,494–2,461 | Ahafo, Tarkwa and Damang samples | B |
| Mexico | North America | 140t | 1,400t | $1,120 | Peñasquito co-product sample | C |
| Kazakhstan | Central Asia | 130t | 2,300t | No public comparable | Production and reserves only | N |
| Uzbekistan | Central Asia | 130t | 2,200t | No public comparable | Production and reserves only | N |
| Peru | South America | 110t | 2,200t | $964–1,632 | Yanacocha and Cerro Corona samples | C |
| South Africa | Africa | 90t | 5,000t | $1,841 | South Deep one-mine sample | B |
| Indonesia | Southeast Asia | 90t | 3,600t | No public comparable | Polymetallic basis problem | N |
| Brazil | South America | 80t | 2,500t | No public comparable | Production and reserves only | N |
| Argentina | South America | — | — | $1,450–2,220 | Veladero and Cerro Negro samples | B |
| Papua New Guinea | Oceania | — | — | $1,607–1,630 | Lihir and Porgera samples | B |
| Dominican Republic | Caribbean | — | — | $1,412 | Pueblo Viejo one-mine sample | B |
| Mali | Africa | — | — | $1,603 | Suspended Loulo-Gounkoto year | C |
| DR Congo | Africa | — | — | $1,337 | Kibali one-mine sample | B |
| Tanzania | Africa | — | — | $1,333–1,795 | North Mara and Bulyanhulu samples | B |
| Côte d’Ivoire | Africa | — | — | $2,203 | Tongon one-mine sample | B |
| Chile | South America | — | — | $933 / 1,144 | Salares Norte basis-sensitive sample | C |
Output and reserves are the internally consistent USGS 2025E layer. Reserves are below-ground mineable geological reserves—not central-bank holdings. Cost observations are site/producer samples unless explicitly described otherwise.