NEWS ROUNDUP — Cathedral lowers operating costs

Operating costs of US$216 per oz. were reported by Cathedral Gold (TSE) for the first quarter, compared with US$268 per oz. for the same period last year.

The decrease was due to slightly-higher-than-budgeted ore production at the 52%-owned Sterling mine in Nevada and the benefit of a positive gold inventory adjustment at the end of 1992.

First-quarter earnings were $23,000, an increase from $17,000 in the comparable 1992 period. During the quarter, Cathedral sold 1,664 oz. gold at US$330, compared with 1,707 oz. at US$355 a year earlier.

Sterling is reported to host geological reserves of 518,000 tons grading 0.18 oz. gold per ton. Drilling is planned for later this year to test areas considered to have potential for expansion of reserves.