Troubled gold giant Barrick Gold Corp. (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) announced Thursday the resignations of three of its South American executives as it makes moves to unfreeze its stalled $8.5 billion flagship project, still subject to a work-stoppage order from a Chilean court.

Barrick’s annual shareholder meeting Wednesday was marked by a group of institutional investors rejecting a nonbinding company resolution on executive compensation in a move rarely seen in Canadian business circles, signalling underlying shareholder disgruntlement with the embattled gold giant.

Barrick’s (TSE:ABX) keenly-awaited results for the first quarter of 2013 were released early Wednesday, and, as expected, the numbers were all down, with falls in the price of gold taking their toll on the Toronto-based gold and copper producer, but adjusted profit still beat analyst estimates and the company plans to cut around $500 million from its expenses. 

Barrick Gold Corp. (TSE:ABX) (NYSE: ABX) is under review by Moody’s Investors Service for a potential ratings downgrade after last week’s court-ordered suspension of construction on the miner’s troubled $8 billion Chilean project.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX) (TSE:ABX) has reportedly appointed two well-known mining execs to management positions on the Toronto-based gold producer’s beleaguered Pascua-Lama mine project, in a shakeup designed to advance the stalled and notoriously troubled property.

The new DFS for Aureus's New Liberty gold mine in Liberia has increased the net present value of the asset, and points to lower operating costs and improved proven plus probable reserves.

Amid declining gold prices, several miners are struggling to keep costs down, but Sacre-Coeur Minerals (CVE:SCM) (OTC:SCRMF) is not one of them. The company boasts all-in cash production costs of less than $500 an ounce at its alluvial/elluvial operations in Guyana. 

Sunridge Gold Corp. (CVE:SGC)(OTCQX:SGCNF) has done exactly what it set out to do last year in releasing a feasibility study for its Asmara project in Eritrea that minimizes the capital exposure in a challenging time for Canadian juniors, with the company now having a plan to start initial production almost one year earlier than the preliminary report. 

Jennings Capital analyst Dan Hrushewsky has highlighted what he called Asanko Gold's (TSE:AKG) "good project economics" at the Esaase gold project in Ghana, saying the company ranks first of all Canadian gold companies on its radar in terms of cash as a percentage of market cap. 

Gold, silver and antimony miner Mandalay Resources (TSE:MND) has issued a strong message of intent with a promise to pay 6% of net future revenues in dividends. Mandalay announced a dividend for the quarter of C$0.769 in line with this new policy.