A gold price near record levels solves many problems in mining. It does not solve the one increasingly dictating project timelines: getting the equipment and the people to run it.Exploration budgets have expanded sharply on the back of the metal’s run, and the money has arrived faster than the capacity to spend it. Drill rigs are contracted months ahead. Haul trucks and loaders carry lead times measured in quarters rather than weeks. Experienced operators, the crews who keep a circuit running through a wet season, are scarcer still. A junior that closes a financing in the spring may ...

A gold price near record levels solves many problems in mining. It does not solve the one increasingly dictating project timelines: getting the equipment and the people to run it.Exploration budgets have expanded sharply on the back of the metal’s run, and the money has arrived faster than the capacity to spend it. Drill rigs are contracted months ahead. Haul trucks and loaders carry lead times measured in quarters rather than weeks. Experienced operators, the crews who keep a circuit running through a wet season, are scarcer still. A junior that closes a financing in the spring may ...