Can the gold industry return to the golden age?

The gold industry finds itself at an inflection point between the recent era of cost out initiatives and balance sheet deleveraging, and an increasing need to focus on growth and the replenishment of depleting gold reserves. However, after a period of impairments, write-downs, and value destruction following the M&A frenzy of the last gold price boom, shareholders in search of improved returns and greater management accountability are unlikely to support significant M&A programs, which have been the traditional mainstay of production growth and gold reserve expansion for major gold companies. The future strategic options to drive growth will differ across industry players, but all players will need to consider a mix of organic and inorganic approaches if they want to return to growth in an economic and sustainable way.