Turmoil triumphs in world of gold GLOBAL goldminers face a wave of big losses, mine closures and chief executive dismissals as the industry struggles to cope with the falling price of gold after a decade-long bull run. London-listed producers of the metal have lost more than pound stg. 14 billion ($23.4bn) of market value since the start of the year. Several, like Fresnillo, the pound stg. 6.7bn gold and silver giant, have seen share prices more than halve. Smaller rivals have been hit even harder. Shares in Avocet Mining, the African producer, dropped nearly 90 per cent. The collapses coincide with the plummeting price of the metal, which is seen by investors as a safe haven. It closed on Friday at $US1290 an ounce, down a quarter since January. The metal began to rise with other commodities in the boom but really took off during the financial crisis, hitting nearly $US1900 an ounce in 2011. A decade ago it was worth only $US350 an ounce. As fears of systemic shocks such as a collapse of the eurozone have faded, so has gold. A hint from Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, that America's giant money-printing program could end soon sent the price down another 5 per cent last week. The drop has caused havoc at companies that approved projects based on a much higher price. African Barrick Gold, the London-listed producer, will unveil the results of a review next month. Among its options is a wide-ranging cost-cutting program or accelerating closures. Kate Craig, an analyst at Liberum Capital, said it could close its giant Buzwagi mine in Tanzania, which accounts for a quarter of its production. "Buzwagi is a high-cost operation and it's deeply under water," she said. They can only cut so much cost before it makes more sense to just mothball it. Everybody in the sector is doing something to deal with (the fall in the gold price). African Barrick said closing Buzwagi was not an option. Australia's biggest goldminer, Newcrest, recently announced $6bn in asset writedowns and lower profit and production forecasts. Its shares have plunged more than 50 per cent this year. Analysts say sentiment remains weak, making the metal vulnerable to further selloffs. In addition to the US Federal Reserve planning to wind down its gold-supportive stimulus program, demand in India, the world's largest net importer of the metal, could remain soft, which in turn could weigh on prices, OCBC Bank says. The Sunday Times