Andrew Su, CEO at brokerage Compass Global Markets said the average cost of producing gold in Australia, home to some of the world's biggest gold miners, has jumped from $500 an ounce in 2007 to over $1,000 an ounce this year.
Persons (plural) is a very formal word. We only use it in rather legalistic contexts: [notice in a lift] Any person or persons found in possession of illegal substances will be prosecuted.
In law, man and person are not exactly synonymous terms. Any human being is a man, whether he be a member of society or not, whatever may be the rank he holds, or whatever may be his age, sex, &c. A person is a man considered according to the rank he holds in society, with all the rights to which the place he holds entitles him, and the duties which it imposes. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 137.