Andrew Su, CEO at brokerage Compass Global Markets said the average cost of producing gold in Australia, home to some of the world's biggest gold miners, has jumped from $500 an ounce in 2007 to over $1,000 an ounce this year.
Persons (plural) is a very formal word. We only use it in rather legalistic contexts: [notice in a lift] Any person or persons found in possession of illegal substances will be prosecuted.
separate; individual. 5. Grammar. noting or pertaining to a member of the category of number found in many languages that indicates that a word form has one referent or denotes one person, place, thing, or instance, as English boy and thing, which are singular nouns, or goes, a singular form of the verb go. Compare dual (def 4), plural (def 4).