Gold Output Hits Fresh Record in Australia

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Australian gold output hit new record in fourth quarter and full year 2019. The record output was mainly attributed to steady increases in throughput and grade, ramping up of production at existing mines and new projects that have come online during this period.

The quarterly gold output totalled 85 tonnes in Q4 ’19, the highest in the country’s history. The previous record was that of 82 tonnes recorded in June 2019 quarter. The full-year gold output at 325 tonnes in 2019, was higher by almost 8 tonnes when compared with the prior year.

The top gold producer for the December 2019 quarter was Newcrest Mining’s Cadia East operation, which produced 239,722 ounces. It was followed by Newmont’s Boddington mine with an output of nearly 196,000 ounces. Kirkland Lake Gold’s Fosterville operation produced 191,894 ounces of gold during the quarter.

ALSO READ: Turkish Gold Output to Hit Fresh Record in 2020

For the calendar year 2019, Australia’s largest gold producer was the Cadia mine, whose output totalled 871,246 ounces of gold. Boddington and Fosterville operations emerged as the next biggest producers, with outputs of 703,000 ounces and 619,367 ounces respectively.

The record gold prices have resulted in the yellow metal becoming a major export earner for the country. It must be noted that the Australian dollar gold prices had averaged at a record of $2,168 per ounce in the final quarter of the previous year.