Gold mining is a global business, with hundreds of mining companies digging for the precious metal in dozens of countries.
But where exactly are the largest gold mines in the world?
As Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte shows in the infographic below, using data compiled from S&P Global Market Intelligence and company reports, the top 10 gold-producing mines in 2021 were very geographically diverse.
Editor’s Note: The article uses publicly available global production data from the World Gold Council to calculate the production share of each mine. The percentages slightly differ from those calculated by S&P. The Top Gold Mines in 2021
The 10 largest gold mines are located across nine different countries in North America, Oceania, Africa, and Asia.
Together, they accounted for around 13 million ounces or 12% of global gold production in 2021.
In 2019, the world’s two largest gold miners—Barrick Gold and Newmont Corporation—announced a historic joint venture combining their operations in Nevada. The resulting joint corporation, Nevada Gold Mines, is now the world’s largest gold mining complex with six mines churning out over 3.3 million ounces annually.
Uzbekistan’s state-owned Muruntau mine, one of the world’s deepest open-pit operations, produced just under 3 million ounces, making it the second-largest gold mine. Muruntau represents over 80% of Uzbekistan’s overall gold production.
Only two other mines—Grasberg and Olimpiada—produced more than 1 million ounces of gold in 2021. Grasberg is not only the third-largest gold mine but also one of the largest copper mines in the world. Olimpiada, owned by Russian gold mining giant Polyus, holds around 26 million ounces of gold reserves.
Polyus was also recently crowned the biggest miner in terms of gold reserves globally, holding over 104 million ounces of proven and probable gold between all deposits. How Profitable is Gold Mining?
The price of gold is up by around 50% since 2016, and it’s hovering near the all-time high of $2,000/oz.
That’s good news for gold miners, who achieved record-high profit margins in 2020. For every ounce of gold produced in 2020, gold miners pocketed $828 on average, significantly higher than the previous high of $666/oz set in 2011.
With inflation rates hitting decade-highs in several countries, gold mining could be a sector to watch, especially given gold’s status as a traditional inflation hedge.
#1: Esso To: Horse, 4um (#0)
Esso posted on 2022-05-28 03:41:30 Reply Private Reply
#2: BTP Holdings To: Horse (#0)
Most of the easy placer gold has been mined out such as Sutters Creek in California. Now most gold is deep mined. Newmont and Barrick are the two largest producers.
When I was a rockhound I did a lot of collecting in the Midwest. Most of those places are gone now.
I did some ridge running in Arkansas when I owned the old Blazer. I collected some really great Quartz crystals near Hot Springs, plus some interesting minerals from nearby town that had a Titanium mineral named Brookite near Magnet Cove.
I even went on a long trip out to New Mexico to a little town named Bigham, New Mexico to the Blanchard Mine.
One time when I was driving big trucks, I was on Hwy 380 going thru Bingham. There was a car parked in front of the old mine shack. I stopped the truck and walked up to the door. I tried the doorknob and it opened. There was a guy in there with a pistol on his hip. There were display cases with specimens in them.
I looked around a little and told the man, "I collected here when Mrs. Blanchard was still alive." He said, "Really."
I sold my mineral collection before I left the Chicago area.
Those are some good old memories that I am lucky to recall because of the meningitis. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2022-05-28 07:13:35 Reply Private Reply