Now, I would have said that South Africa’s mines produced the largest amount of gold. A few years ago, I would have been correct but not anymore.
Which country do you think produces the largest amount of gold? Do you think the US surpassed Africa? Well, the US produces more than Africa, but the US slipped to the third place looking at the production in the first half of 2009.
Australia surpassed the US taking second place, but who’s in first?
Gold production for the first half of 2009:
4th place – South Africa at 103 tons
3rd place – US at 105 tons
2nd place – Australia at 112 tons
1st place – China at 147 tons
Interesting….
Now, let’s take a look at the order by land mass. The US is the largest in square kilometers followed by China, Australia and South Africa.
If you look at gold production per square kilometer, the results provide a different order.
Using the first half 2009 yields, South Africa produced 2.7 troy ounces per square kilometer, China mined .49 troy ounces per sq km, Australia obtained .46 troy ounces per sq km and the US returned .35 troy ounces per sq km.
For pure volume, China is the number one producer. But when you add in land mass, South Africa still has the richest mines.
And, why is this interesting? Well, gold is in high demand and the rates per troy ounce continue to climb.
Over the holiday week, gold had a high of $1192 per ounce. Today, the price currently hovers over $1170. Yes, that’s a decrease from the high of $1192, but the gold pundits expect the rate to continue upward. Perhaps they are right. As an indicator, the coin and gold dealers see an ongoing stream of buyers for gold.
Demand = high and supply = low produces an increase in prices.
Resources:
Australia ousts US as second-biggest gold producer, SA slips to fourth