Gold Mining KPIs: 12 Metrics With Real Mine Data

The gold mining KPIs that matter most are grade, mill recovery, all-in sustaining cost (AISC), reserve replacement and injury rate. A KPI (key performance indicator) is a single number, tracked over time, that tells you whether a mine or project is on plan. In 2025 the producers we checked reported AISC between US$1,339 and US$1,664 per ounce, a gap of up to 24% between the lowest and highest reported figure, though the bases differ (company filings, February 2026). This guide explains 12 KPIs, shows what real mines reported for them, and gives a calculator that turns grade, recovery and AISC into margin.

The world mined about 3,300 tonnes of gold in 2025 (estimate), and the United States about 160 tonnes (USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026). At those volumes, a few percent of recovery or a few hundred dollars of cost per ounce decide whether a project is worth building.

The 12 gold mining KPIs at a glance

The table lists each KPI, the question it answers and one reported example. Examples come from company filings and reports published between February and October 2026, and each is explained in the sections below.

How we chose these KPIs

We kept metrics that three tests allow. First, a public company reports the number in a filing, so you can check it. Second, a definition exists that stops two companies from measuring different things, such as the World Gold Council guidance on AISC. Third, a manager can act on it. We left out vanity numbers such as headline ounces of resource, which say nothing about cost or recovery. All company figures are from full-year 2025 reports unless stated, and we cite each one where it appears.

Petroleum and other commodities use different cost units and are not covered here. If your project is a different metal, the same structure applies but the cost unit changes (per pound of copper, per tonne of iron ore).

Grade and recovery KPIs: how much gold the mill gets from each tonne

Head grade is the average gold content of the ore fed to the mill, in grams per tonne (g/t). Mill recovery is the share of that gold that ends up in the doré bar or concentrate, and the rest goes to tailings (the waste slurry left after processing). Gold produced equals tonnes milled times grade times recovery, divided by 31.1035 grams per troy ounce.

Chart

Ore grade against mill recovery at seven Newmont mines, 2025

x: average ore grade milled (g/t, log scale); y: average mill recovery (%)

Newmont’s 2025 operating statistics show how wide the range is (Newmont, Q4 2025 Operating Statistics). Tanami in Australia milled ore at 5.19 g/t with 97.9% recovery. Boddington milled 36.5 million tonnes at only 0.57 g/t with 85.0% recovery. Lihir, whose ore is refractory (the gold is locked in sulphide minerals), recovered 77.1% of 2.34 g/t. A low grade is not a bad grade: Boddington and Cadia are large bulk mines where the volume, not the grade, supplies the ounces. Each figure comes from that mine’s own page in the Newmont statistics.

What to track: grade by month against the mine plan, grade reconciliation (the mill’s actual grade against the block model’s prediction), recovery by ore type, and tonnes milled against plant capacity. A recovery that drifts down 2 points on a 60,000 ounce mine costs more than 1,000 ounces a year.

Mining KPIs: strip ratio and tonnes moved

The strip ratio is the tonnes of waste rock removed for each tonne of ore in an open pit. A higher ratio means more cost for each ounce. Using the tonnes Newmont reports for 2025, we calculate 1.4 tonnes of waste per tonne of ore at Boddington (46.8 million tonnes of waste, 32.5 million of ore), 2.9 at Lihir and 3.6 at Merian. These are our ratios derived from reported tonnes, not figures the company publishes.

The cut-off grade is the lowest grade at which a block of rock pays for its own mining and processing. When the gold price rises, the cut-off falls, more rock becomes ore, and average grade often falls with it. Metals Focus, in a post for the World Gold Council, notes that rising prices make lower-grade ore economic, and also raise royalties and mining taxes (World Gold Council, Metals Focus analysis, March 2025). Other mining KPIs worth a place on the dashboard: tonnes mined per truck shift, equipment availability, dilution (waste mixed into ore) and ore loss.

▶ How gold is mined and refined, from rock to bar. · 5:27

Cost KPIs: total cash cost and AISC explained

Total cash cost is the direct cost of mining, milling, and selling gold, including royalties and production taxes, divided by ounces sold. AISC adds the costs of keeping the operation going. The World Gold Council’s AISC guidance note, first issued in 2013 and since updated, defines the metric and encourages every gold miner to publish it with a reconciliation to its accounts (World Gold Council, All-in sustaining costs and all-in costs).

Metals Focus, writing for the World Gold Council, describes AISC as adjusted operating costs plus a gross sustaining component that covers corporate general and administration, reclamation and remediation, exploration and sustaining capital (World Gold Council, November 2023). The World Gold Council’s latest update puts the global average AISC at US$1,785 per ounce in the first quarter of 2026, up 5% on the quarter and 16% on the year, with royalties at about 12% of AISC against about 6% in the first quarter of 2021 (World Gold Council, August 2026). Its average AISC margin was a record US$3,076 per ounce. Metals Focus estimated sustaining capital at about US$303 per ounce and royalties plus mining tax at about US$90 per ounce in the third quarter of 2024 (World Gold Council, March 2025).

How AISC compares across seven gold producers

The chart below lines up full-year 2025 AISC for seven producers. Bases differ, so read it as a spread and not a league table: Newmont’s figure is the gold co-product basis, Centerra’s is a by-product basis (copper credits reduce its figure), and Kinross reports per gold-equivalent ounce. Gold Fields reports a group figure (Gold Fields, Integrated Annual Report 2025), and Agnico Eagle, Barrick and Eldorado report per ounce of gold sold.

Chart

All-in sustaining cost per ounce, full-year 2025

US$ per ounce; bases differ (see text)

The ranking in the chart is by reported number, not by quality of management. A mine with a long life and heavy sustaining capital can show a high AISC and still earn more over its life than a short-life mine with a low one.

AISC margin: what the gold price leaves per ounce

AISC margin is the realized gold price minus AISC. It is the cash a company keeps from each ounce before growth projects, interest, tax beyond royalties, and dividends. Barrick realized US$3,501 per ounce in 2025 against an AISC of US$1,637, a margin of US$1,864; in 2024 the same figures were US$2,397 and US$1,484, a margin of US$913 (Barrick, 2025 Annual Report). The realized price rose 46%, AISC rose 10%, and the margin roughly doubled.

Chart

Realized gold price against AISC, full-year 2025

US$ per ounce sold; the gap is the AISC margin

Agnico Eagle reported a lower AISC of US$1,339 against a realized price of US$3,454, a margin of about US$2,115, or 61% of the price (Agnico Eagle, Q4 2025 results). Eldorado Gold reported US$1,664 against US$3,505, about US$1,841 (Eldorado Gold, Q4 2025 results). Margin shows investors what a company can fund; it is a company-level reading and does not predict next year. Our page on gold mining stocks with dividends shows how margin feeds payouts.

Why AISC rises when the gold price rises

Costs are not fixed when the price jumps. Royalties and production taxes scale with revenue, and miners process lower-grade ore. Barrick’s 2025 gold cost of sales (US$1,697), total cash cost (US$1,199) and AISC (US$1,637) all came in above guidance (US$1,460 to US$1,560 for AISC). It names higher royalties on the higher realized price (about US$55 per ounce on cost of sales) among the causes, along with lower production and grades. For 2026 it guides gold AISC to US$1,760 to US$1,950 per ounce at a gold price assumption of US$4,500 (Barrick, 2025 Annual Report).

Kinross reports 2025 attributable AISC of US$1,571 per gold-equivalent ounce and guides to about US$1,730 for 2026. It attributes the expected 10% rise in 2026 mostly to royalties on the higher gold price (4 percentage points) and inflation (5 points), with mine sequencing adding 1 point (Kinross, 2025 results). Eldorado’s AISC went from US$1,285 to US$1,664 per ounce and Centerra’s from US$1,148 to US$1,614 on a by-product basis. Read AISC trends next to the gold price, never alone.

Reserve and exploration KPIs: are you replacing what you mine?

Reserve replacement compares the ounces added to reserves with the ounces mined in the same period. Barrick ended 2025 with 85 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves at 0.98 g/t, compared with 89 million a year earlier. Depletion was 3.7 million ounces, exploration and price changes added 1.8 million, and the sale of Tongon and Hemlo removed 2.2 million. Barrick’s three-year rolling replacement stayed close to 190% (Barrick, 2025 Annual Report). One year of net decline sits next to a strong three-year average, which is why three-year figures are a better KPI than a single year.

A reserve is the part of a resource that has been shown to be economic after mining, processing and cost studies. For junior and early-stage companies, the useful exploration KPIs come earlier in the chain:

• Exploration spend per metre drilled or per hectare surveyed. Divide total exploration cost by metres or hectares to compare methods.
• Prospect-to-drill ratio. Targets identified per target actually drilled shows how well screening works.
• Model confirmation rate. The share of drill holes that match the grade and geometry the model predicted.
• Assay turnaround and QA/QC pass rate. Fast, clean lab data lets the next hole be planned sooner.
• Cost per ounce added. Exploration spend divided by ounces added to resources or reserves over three years.

No industry body sets these five definitions, so write yours down before the first hole. Satellite screening can cut early-exploration time from months to days, and our page on satellite-based mineral detection describes how Farmonaut maps iron-oxide, clay and structural clues across a licence. To see how a district-level story plays out, read about gold deposits in Saskatchewan.

▶ The five numbers that matter in a satellite imagery report for gold exploration. · 2:00

Safety and tailings KPIs: people and dams

The total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR) counts lost-time, restricted-work and medical-aid injuries per million hours worked. Agnico Eagle’s workforce TRIFR was 4.30 in 2023, 5.14 in 2024 and 4.83 in 2025, with employees alone at 3.08, 4.67 and 3.77. The company also reported a global combined injury frequency rate of 2.65 per million hours in 2025, up from 2.47 in 2024, and one fatality in 2025 (Agnico Eagle, Sustainability Report 2025). Compare TRIFR only between companies that define it the same way, and track fatalities and serious potential events beside it.

Chart

Agnico Eagle total recordable injury frequency rate

injuries per million hours worked

For tailings, the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) is the benchmark. ICMM, the mining industry’s sustainability body, found that 67% of 836 member tailings facilities were in full conformance in August 2025, and over 80% of those rated extreme or very high consequence were (ICMM, Tailings Progress Report, November 2025). A project KPI could be the number of facilities with an independent review in date.

How to set up a gold mining KPI dashboard in 6 steps

1. Pick 8 to 12 KPIs. Take two from each group: grade and recovery, cost, reserves, safety. More than 12 hides the few that matter.
2. Write a one-line definition for each. Include unit, basis (consolidated or attributable), and what is included. Follow the World Gold Council note for AISC.
3. Set a plan value and a trigger. For example, recovery below plan by 1.5 points for two weeks triggers a metallurgical review.
4. Name one owner per KPI. The mill manager owns recovery, the geologist owns reconciliation, the safety lead owns TRIFR.
5. Put every number in one place. Maps, samples, drill results and targets in one system avoid the multiple-spreadsheet problem.
6. Review monthly and keep history. A trend over 12 months beats any single reading.

If you are an explorer without a mine yet, steps 1 to 3 still work with exploration KPIs. Farmonaut’s satellite mineral detection takes a licence boundary (KML, KMZ or polygon) and delivers a report in 5 to 20 business days, and you can ask for a quote on our mining query form.

▶ What a mineral management system keeps in one place: maps, samples and targets. · 3:21

Common mistakes when reading gold mining KPIs

• Comparing AISC on different bases. The World Gold Council guidance says a company showing site-level AISC should also show a company-level figure that includes corporate costs, because site figures can mislead on their own.
• Mixing by-product and co-product figures. A copper-gold mine’s by-product AISC can look low because copper sales are credited against gold costs.
• Judging grade without recovery. A 2 g/t ore at 77% recovery yields fewer ounces than a 1.7 g/t ore at 97%.
• Looking at one year. Reserve replacement and AISC both move with timing of capital and sequencing.
• Treating a KPI as a forecast. A KPI describes what happened. Use it to ask a question, not to predict a price.

Gold mine margin calculator: grade, recovery and AISC

The calculator below ties four KPIs together. Enter your ore tonnes, grade, recovery, price and AISC to see ounces recovered, ounces lost to tailings and annual margin.

If this topic matters to you, read Phoenix Gold Mine Colorado: Tours, Prices and Real Gold next.

Related reading on this site: Gold Mine Case Studies: 5 Real Projects Compared.

Frequently asked questions

What are the most important KPIs in gold mining?

Head grade, mill recovery, throughput, AISC, reserve replacement and injury rate cover the core of an operating mine. Explorers add cost per metre drilled and target-to-drill conversion.

What is a good AISC for a gold mine?

There is no single good figure. Seven producers we checked reported US$1,339 to US$1,664 per ounce for 2025, and the World Gold Council put the global average at US$1,785 in the first quarter of 2026. A good AISC is one comfortably below the gold price across the mine’s life.

What is the difference between cash cost and AISC?

Total cash cost covers mining, processing, site administration, royalties and taxes. AISC adds corporate costs, exploration, reclamation and sustaining capital. For Barrick in 2025, total cash cost was US$1,199 per ounce and AISC was US$1,637.

How do you calculate gold recovery?

Recovery is gold in the product divided by gold fed to the mill, as a percentage. Metallurgists balance it by sampling feed, product and tailings.

What is head grade in gold mining?

Head grade is the average grade of ore as it enters the mill, in grams per tonne. It differs from the reserve grade, because dilution and ore loss change the grade between pit and mill.

What is the strip ratio?

It is tonnes of waste mined per tonne of ore in an open pit. Using Newmont’s reported 2025 tonnes, we calculate 1.4 at Boddington and 3.6 at Merian.

What is reserve replacement and why does it matter?

It compares ounces added to reserves with ounces mined. A ratio under 100% means the mine is shrinking. Barrick reports a three-year rolling average close to 190% for 2025 even though one year of depletion exceeded additions.

Which safety KPI should a gold miner track?

TRIFR, the recordable injuries per million hours, is the most common. Track fatalities and serious potential events too, since a low TRIFR can hide a rare severe event.

How does the gold price change mining KPIs?

A higher price raises royalties and lets miners process lower-grade ore, so AISC and cut-off grade move with it. Barrick’s 2026 AISC guidance assumes a gold price of US$4,500 per ounce.

What KPIs matter for a gold exploration company?

Cost per metre or hectare, prospect-to-drill ratio, model confirmation rate, QA/QC pass rate and cost per ounce added. Define each in writing before you start drilling.

How often should KPIs be reviewed?

Operating KPIs such as grade and recovery are reviewed daily or weekly. Cost, reserve and safety KPIs are reviewed monthly or quarterly, with a yearly trend.