Gold’s slump to a five-year low this month is squeezing the world’s biggest producers of the precious metal, already struggling to rein in costs and pay down debt.

A rout in bullion has sapped investor confidence in gold miners, sending the benchmark 30-member Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold and Silver Index of the largest producers to its lowest since 2001. A five-day losing streak through Monday wiped $19-billion off the index, which includes Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp.

The metal’s plunge is eroding profits at mines across the globe and stressing balance sheets in an industry where the biggest producers are weighed down by a record debt load of $31.5-billion. Gold futures in New York are heading for their longest losing streak since 1996 amid increasing speculation U.S. interest rates will climb this year, weakening the appeal of bullion.

“The whole industry is on a bit of a knife-edge,” said James Sutton, a portfolio manager at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s $2-billion Natural Resources Fund who is underweight gold stocks. “They are making very, very small margins. Really everybody in the industry needs higher prices. You’re going to see some companies run into trouble.”

The industry, on average, needs about $1,200 an ounce to break even when all costs are considered, according to Sutton. Bullion for immediate delivery declined to $1,086.18 an ounce on Monday, the lowest since March 2010. It fell 0.9 per cent to $1,091.20 an ounce at 2:56 p.m. in London.

Wood Mackenzie Ltd. said Wednesday that about 10 per cent of gold miners would be loss-making with bullion at $1,100 an ounce.

Investors Souring

Investors have soured on gold miners as they battled to contain ballooning costs and the outlook for prices dimmed. Some producers have been obliged to enact bailout plans. Petropavlovsk Plc, a Russian miner once valued at more than $3-billion, was forced to tap shareholders for emergency funds earlier this year after its stock slid 99 per cent in five years.

“There’s a lot of pain to be taken in this sector,” Clive Burstow, who helps manage $44-billion at Baring Asset Management in London, said by phone. “Everyone has had to rationalize balance sheets, you’ve seen management turnover, you’ve seen dividends being either pared back or cut.”

Companies like Randgold Resources Ltd., a producer in West Africa, and Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc. are best-positioned to weather the price slump, Burstow said.

Randgold, which built its business making its own discoveries in Mali, Senegal and Ivory Coast, has a war chest of at least $500-million to buy assets from distressed rivals.

“Another $50 off the gold price and this industry is toast,” Randgold Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said July 15, when bullion traded at about $1,150 an ounce.

1986 Low

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold and Silver Index posted its biggest one-day fall in seven years on Monday, with Toronto-based Barrick declining to the lowest since 1986. The benchmark has tumbled 29 per cent in 2015, led by North American miners, with IAMGold Corp. down 51 per cent, Yamana Gold Inc. 48 per cent and Kinross Gold Corp. 41 per cent.

“This is a correction that has to take its course,” Markus Bachmann, CEO of resources-focused investor Craton Capital, said in a phone interview from Johannesburg. “Corrections do not stop halfway. Fundamentals do not matter. A lot of it is sentiment driven.”

Prices could fall below $1,000 an ounce for the first time since 2009, Jeffrey Currie, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s New York– based head of commodities research, told Bloomberg in an interview Tuesday.

“Gold is on the ropes,” Ross Norman, CEO of dealer Sharps Pixley, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “I suspect we’ll have another bear raid before long. I don’t think the bears have finished their game, they’ll keep punching it until it stops moving.

Protect Your Portfolio Profits       http://www.youroffshoremoney.com