While we wait for PEM news, here are a few thoughts to ponder. . .

In today's Uncommon Wisdom article, author Sean Broderick wrote partially about Peak Gold (finding new deposits):

Have We Hit Peak Gold? Steve Letwin, the CEO of IAMGold, thinks so. In an interview with Mineweb, Mr. Letwin said: "I think you hit peak gold three or four years ago. You cannot find the large deposits anymore. Most of it (is) lower-grade and in more-remote locations, so it's going to be difficult for anybody to produce gold at less than $1,200 per ounce in terms of new discoveries.". . . . Ore grades are falling — from around an average grade of 12 grams per ton in 1950 to about 3 grams per ton in the U.S., Canada and Australia. Miners are now going after ore they used to drive over to get to the big deposits. . . . . They aren't chasing low-grade ore because it's fun. They're going after low-grade ore because it's all they can find. Now, there are mines going into production with less than a gram per ton of gold, and they're quite profitable!. . . . Sure, there probably are some high-grade deposits waiting to be discovered. But those higher-grade deposits will be smaller — that's why they were overlooked the first time around.

_______________________

In an older BullionVault.com article from a few years ago, they wrote:

Westhouse Securities estimates that between 1985 and 2003, new gold ounce discoveries slipped by 30% from the previous 15 years. ... And large deposits – judged at 2.5 million ounces or more – have simply been too few and far between to replace the major gold mining companies' current rate of production. . . . . Indeed, gold mining geologists have started to worry that the next big "elephant" find just isn't out there, according to Philip Klapwijk of the GFMS consultancy.

_______________________

In an IM International Mining article they wrote:

The June 2011 issue of the Gold Mine Cost Report, published by ABN AMRO Bank and VM Group Haliburton Mineral Services, examines the changes in gold mine production cash costs in Q1 2011. Growth in average gold mining cash costs rose by 1.8% on the quarter, to $620/oz.

_______________________

MineEx Consulting, Ltd., wrote last Novemnber ". . . .new resource of 2 million ounces of gold qualifies as being transformational in scale. . . . there have been 871 deposits of 1m ounces or larger found in the world from 1950 to 2010. Now, only 1 deposit is found in the world every 1 to 2 years, a very rare event, with a 1 billion dollar value (at time of development).

______________________

It seems to me PEM should reach about 3m ounces, at the Friday deposit alone, (emphasis added) within another year, or so, of drilling. And, that won't be the final total for the Friday. Then there is Project X zone, Deadwood zone, Monday zone, Lucky Strike zone, Buffalo Gilch zone, and so much more. We have about 2m ounces already on less than 2% of the identified approximate potentially mineralized structure. Think of it this way: Eventually, if we find only 10m ounces, as gold prices rise, valued perhaps at $100 an ounce in the ground in the future, we will be that very rare one (1) new discovery found every 1 to 2 years, worldwide, with a billion dollar value. But is there only 10m ounces to be found on the OSZ? I think it will prove to be much higher in the years ahead.

marwal