Australia's gold miners and explorers are soaring on the ASX today, as the gleaming metal jumped overnight.
The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) was up 0.8%, but several miners are up more than 5% in early trading.
| Company | Last Price | Market Cap ($m) | Gain |
| Kingsrose Mining Limited (ASX: KRM) | $0.13 | $51.6 | 13.6% |
| Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR) | $1.53 | $1,235.1 | 12.7% |
| Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) | $2.32 | $1,528.7 | 8.9% |
| West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF) | $0.32 | $3,860.0 | 8.5% |
| Cardinal Resources Ltd (ASX: CDV) | $0.65 | $197.0 | 8.3% |
| Birimian Ltd (ASX: BGS) | $0.47 | $82.9 | 8.1% |
| Perseus Mining Limited (ASX: PRU) | $0.53 | $544.9 | 7.5% |
| Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) | $22.84 | $17,507.1 | 6.8% |
| EVOLUTION FPO (ASX: EVN) | $2.56 | $4,161.0 | 6.7% |
| Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) | $4.53 | $237.0 | 6.6% |
| Ramelius Resources Limited (ASX: RMS) | $0.45 | $237.4 | 6.4% |
| Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) | $4.05 | $2,029.0 | 6.0% |
| Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX: BDR) | $0.45 | $475.9 | 5.9% |
Source: Google Finance
The reason for the gains is that the gold price rose around 2% higher to US$1,332 an ounce. In Australian dollar terms, that's A$1,763 an ounce, meaning those healthy gross profit margins for Australian miners are continuing.
Gold miners have been using their overflowing bank accounts to pay dividends, pay down debt, increase production where they can and optimise their operations. There's also the potential for one of Australia's largest gold miners to buy Barrick Gold's 50% share of the Kalgoorlie Super Pit gold mine. The other half is owned by Newmont Mining.
The mine is expected to produce more than 700,000 ounces of gold this year at an all-in sustaining price of less than US$700 an ounce.
