Contents
Notes
Ownership graphic
https://visual.ly/community/Infographics/economy/who-owns-world-gold . Very good graphic:
[ The below is from 10 minerals.docx ]
Gold
50,000 tonnes, ac-cording to the US Geological Survey.
57,000 tonnes ac-cording to the De-partment of mines of Government of Western Australia
Top 5 countries with the largest reserves:
Australia 9,500 tonnes (17%)
Russia 5,300 tonnes
South Africa 3,200 tonnes
US 3,000 tonnes
Indonesia 2,600 tonnes 3,463.7 1. China – 383.2 tonnes
For many years, China has been the top pro-ducing nation, accounting for 11 percent of global mine production. However, production fell from nearly 400 tonnes last year, repre-senting the third consecutive year of declines. The downtrend is largely due to tighter envi-ronmental policies imposed by the govern-ment. For example, stricter control over the use of cyanide at gold mines forced several operations to cut back production.
2. Russia – 329.5 tonnes
A massive 83 percent of European gold comes from Russia, which has been increasing its production every year since 2010. Russia took the lead over Australia to become the world’s second largest producer – mining 50 tonnes more in 2019 than the year prior. Who is the largest buyer of Russian gold? The Russian government, of course, which purchases around two-thirds of all gold produced local-ly.
3. Australia – 325.1 tonnes
Australia has posted seven consecutive years of increases in production, up by 4 percent in 2019. The minerals industry produces over half of Australia’s total exports and generates about 8 percent of GDP. Higher production at several mines and the ramp of projects such as Mount Morgans and Cadia Valley contrib-uted to increased production.
4. United States – 200.2 tonnes
American gold output fell by 11 percent in 2019, ending five consecutive years of growth. Twelve states produced the gold, worth about $8.9 billion and accounting for 6.1 percent of the global total. Around 78 percent of gold produced in the U.S. is from Nevada. If the state was considered a country, it would be number six on this list with 173.6 tonnes mined in 2019.
5. Canada – 182.9 tonnes
Canada has held the number five spot for three years now, even with a slight decrease in output in 2019. New projects in Nunavat, Yukon and Quebec are expected to support stronger output in 2020. Canada’s gold mine production is estimated to grow by a com-pound annual growth rate of 2.7 percent from 2019 to 2023 to reach 7.6 million ounces.
6. Peru – 143.3 tonnes
Gold output fell for a fourth consecutive year in Peru largely due to crackdowns on illegal mining operations in the La Pampa region and lower grades at existing projects. Mining is a significant portion of Peru’s economy and accounts for over 28 percent of the region’s total output.
7. Ghana – 142.4 tonnes
Ghana is Africa’s largest producer of gold, beating out South Africa for the top spot in 2019, and is also known for its reserves of various industrial minerals. Industry majors such as AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields have shifted their focus from South Africa to Ghana where deposits are cheaper and easier to mine. The West African nation has around 1,000 metric tons of reserves and moved up to number seven on the list from 10 last year.
8. South Africa – 118.2 tonnes
Once the top gold-producer in the world by a wide margin, South Africa’s gold mines have been slowing every year since 2008, with the exception of 2013 when production rose by a few tonnes. The nation is struggling with ris-ing costs for electricity and labor, with many mines closing due to unprofitability. South Africa is, however, still home to the world’s deepest gold mine, the Mponeng mine, ex-tending 2.5 miles underground.
9. Mexico – 111.4 tonnes
Although production fell for a fourth consecu-tive year, Mexico remains a competitive gold source. Output has risen from just 50.8 tonnes in 2008 to over 130 tonnes in 2017, one of the largest increases in a nine-year span. Mexico is an attractive place for mining due to a rela-tively low cost of regulation. The 2019 slow-down is attributed to disputes between local communities and contractors.
10. Brazil – 106.9 tonnes
Brazil produced 10 more tonnes of gold than the year prior to make the number 10 spot on this list. Illegal mining activity has risen sharply in the last five years in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. President Jair Bolso-naro has pushed the country to develop the Amazon economically and tap its mineral riches. The below-ground stock of gold reserves is currently estimated to be around 50,000 tonnes, according to the US Geological Survey.
To put that in perspective, around 190,000 tonnes of gold has been mined in total, although estimates do vary.
Based on these rough figures, there is about 20% still to be mined. But this is a moving target.
New technologies may make it possible to extract some known reserves that aren’t currently economical to access.
While gold in the ground may be hard to quantify, it’s not the only source. There is also gold on the ocean floor, Antarctica and the moon. However, the costs associated with mining it and transporting it are sig-nificantly higher than the value of the gold. The World Gold Council
Top five countries with the largest gold mine reserves in the world
Gold Demand
Total gold demand in 2017 was 4,071.66 tonnes. Divided equally between all 7.5 billion people, this would be 0.54 grams per person; divided between 10 million, 0.41 grams; divided between 12.5 billion, 0.33 grams.
The main categories of demand are listed and charted below.
| Usage type | Subcategory | Tonnes |
|---|---|---|
| Jewellery | – | 2,135.52 |
| Technology | Electronics | 265.34 |
| Other Industrial | 50.65 | |
| Dentistry | 16.84 | |
| Investment | Bar & Coin: Physical Bar Demand | 770.94 |
| Bar & Coin: Official Coin | 186.87 | |
| Bar & Coin: Medals/Imitation Coin | 71.34 | |
| ETFs & similar products | 202.75 | |
| Central banks & other institutions | – | 371.40 |
From https://www.gold.org/goldhub/research/gold-demand-trends/gold-demand-trends-full-year-2017 :
GDT Statistics XLSX.
Gold Production
Total gold mined in 2017 was 3,359,775 kilograms. Divided equally between all 7.5 billion people, this would be 0.45 grams per person; divided between 10 million, 0.34 grams; divided between 12.5 billion, 0.27 grams.
The top 10 producing countries are listed and charted below. Click the “â–¶Remaining countries” legend under the chart to see the others.
| Country | Kilograms mined |
|---|---|
| China | 426,142 |
| Australia | 292,022 |
| Russia | 270,300 |
| USA | 236,986 |
| Canada | 171,111 |
| Peru | 151,964 |
| South Africa | 136,833 |
| Ghana | 133,303 |
| Mexico | 126,820 |
| Sudan | 107,300 |
From https://www2.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/statistics/wms.cfc?method=searchWMS :
Data type=”Production”, Commodity=”gold, mine”, Dates=2017, Countries=”All countries”.
â–¶Remaining countries
| Indonesia | 99,030 |
| Uzbekistan | 89,900 |
| Kazakhstan | 85,339 |
| Brazil | 79,717 |
| Papua New Guinea | 65,246 |
| Argentina | 60,956 |
| Mali | 51,500 |
| Guinea | 46,845 |
| Burkina Faso | 46,436 |
| Tanzania | 43,489 |
| Colombia | 43,158 |
| Chile | 37,911 |
| Congo, Democratic Republic | 37,100 |
| Dominican Republic | 35,242 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 29,100 |
| Bolivia | 28,726 |
| Suriname | 25,844 |
| Ivory Coast | 25,200 |
| Zimbabwe | 23,929 |
| Turkey | 23,090 |
| Philippines | 22,749 |
| Guyana | 20,334 |
| Togo | 20,000 |
| Mongolia | 19,849 |
| Nigeria | 19,000 |
| Egypt | 16,941 |
| Senegal | 11,700 |
| Saudi Arabia | 10,333 |
| New Zealand | 10,288 |
| Korea, Dem. P.R. of | 10,000 |
| Finland | 9,102 |
| Mauritania | 9,096 |
| Rwanda | 8,800 |
| Bulgaria | 8,682 |
| Venezuela | 8,100 |
| France (French Guiana) | 8,000 |
| Sweden | 7,858 |
| Namibia | 7,469 |
| Nicaragua | 7,367 |
| Iran | 7,100 |
| Japan | 6,369 |
| Ecuador | 6,368 |
| Liberia | 6,071 |
| Laos | 5,988 |
| Tajikistan | 5,500 |
| Ethiopia | 5,390 |
| Zambia | 4,373 |
| Armenia | 4,270 |
| Costa Rica | 4,255 |
| Azerbaijan | 3,667 |
| Georgia | 3,000 |
| Madagascar | 2,833 |
| Eritrea | 2,700 |
| Honduras | 2,596 |
| Malaysia | 2,124 |
| India | 1,651 |
| Guatemala | 1,647 |
| Burma | 1,620 |
| Spain | 1,605 |
| Fiji | 1,425 |
| Greece | 1,324 |
| Serbia | 1,199 |
| Uruguay | 1,062 |
| North Macedonia | 972 |
| Burundi | 953 |
| Niger | 914 |
| Botswana | 913 |
| Cameroon | 713 |
| Gabon | 600 |
| Poland | 572 |
| Vietnam | 557 |
| Kenya | 503 |
| Romania | 500 |
| Slovakia | 447 |
| Korea (Rep. of) | 283 |
| Morocco | 220 |
| South Sudan | 200 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 200 |
| Mozambique | 166 |
| Congo | 150 |
| Sierra Leone | 142 |
| Algeria | 137 |
| Central African Republic | 118 |
| Panama | 100 |
| Cyprus | 48 |
| Chad | 10 |
| Benin | 5 |
| Uganda | 4 |
| Taiwan | 4 |
| United Kingdom | 0 |
| Thailand | 0 |
| Germany | 0 |
| Eswatini (Swaziland) | 0 |