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.
person . a natural person, an entity or a personal representative; Any pre-existing definition for  person  is substituted with the given objects, so when person is stated in the Bank Act, any or all of the objects are used in place of the word person. 1.