Russia to Drive World Gold Mine Output Rush

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest report published by Fitch Solutions indicates that global gold mine production is expected to stage rebound in the forthcoming years, triggered by jump in gold prices and merger deals between major mining firms. Russia will drive the global production growth.

The report notes that the global gold mine production is set to record a 2.5% annual growth over the next decade, rising from 106moz in 2020 to 133moz by 2029. It must be noted that the annual growth had averaged only at around 1.2% over 2016-’19.

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Fitch Solutions forecast Russia to overtake China as the largest gold mine producer over the next decade. The country’s output is likely to grow from 11.3moz in 2020 to 15.5moz in 2029, representing an annual growth of 3.7%. The country’s share of global output will surge higher from the current level of 10.6% to as high as 11.6% in 2029. The ongoing tensions with the U.S. would boost domestic demand for the yellow metal, especially the intake of gold by the Russian central bank.

Another competitor for China would be Australia, whose gold mine production is projected to record annual growth of 2.2%, rising from 11.7moz in 2020 to 14.2moz in 2029, triggered by output boost from Carrapateena copper-gold project.

The Chinese gold production is likely to remain stagnant over the next decade, growing at 0.2% per annum. However, the country will continue to be the world’s largest producer of gold ore.