POSGOLD announced a 49 per cent higher net profit before abnormals of $62.2 million for the nine months to March 31, this week 10 years ago. This gain was despite corporate turmoil over three months that stalled plans to create one of the world’s biggest gold groups. A proposal to merge key Normandy group members, Normandy, PosGold, GMK and North Flinders mines fell through when Newcrest Mining Ltd voted against the proposals. Factors helping to boost PosGold profits include the Big Bell project near Cue in WA, where a reduction of costs has resulted in a $20 million turnaround for the nine-month project.