Contact us
CALL US NOW 1-888-GOLD-160
(1-888-465-3160)

World Gold Council Chairman Says We May Have Hit Peak Gold

  by    0   0

During an interview at the Denver Gold Forum, the chairman of the World Gold Council said he thinks the world may have reached peak gold.

Peak gold means the amount of gold mined out of the earth will begin to shrink every year, rather than increase, as it has done pretty consistently since the 1970s.

Randall Oliphant said there are signs we’ve reached that point. He said in the near-term, production is likely to plateau at best, before slowly declining as demand rises, especially given global political risks and robust purchases by consumers in India and China

We’re not going to fall off a cliff in the near term, but in the same time it’s really hard to see how we’re going to produce enough gold to meet all this demand.”

The World Gold Council chairman said geopolitical risk and instability will continue to boost demand for the yellow metal.

All this uncertainty seems very fertile ground for people to get into gold.”

According to Bloomberg, Oliphant wasn’t the only person at the conference talking about peak gold.

David Harquail, chief executive officer of Franco-Nevada Corp., said earlier Monday that the gold industry continues to be in an ex-growth phase where new mining projects are simply replacing older assets that are running out of ore.”

There is solid data to back up the contention the world may have hit peak gold.  Mine production plateaued at 3,100 tons in 2016, equal to 2015’s output. And in the first half of this year, we saw sharp drops in mine output in both China and Australia, the world’s leading producers.

In 2016, Mining.com analyzed the data and concluded there are no more easy gold discoveries. In fact, the number of major gold discoveries is shrinking.  MarketWatch asserted that we’re heading for “an impending gold production cliff” based on analysis by Sprott Asset Management. Analysts say gold discoveries peaked in 2007, and a production peak will soon follow. Since that high-point in ’07, discoveries have collapsed, “despite exploration budgets increasing by 250% from 2009 to 2012.”

When we look at the future of gold, it’s easy to get caught up in the latest geopolitical turmoil or the most recent policy pronouncement by the Federal Reserve. Of course, these events in the news cycle are important. But investors should never lose sight of the most basic fundamentals – supply and demand. The gold industry may well be entering a long-term — and possibly irreversible — period of less available gold. As mining companies find it more difficult to pull gold out of the earth, it will mean less gold for refiners to produce for the consumer market. Remember, gold gets its value from its scarcity.

Get Peter Schiff’s most important Gold headlines once per week – click here – for a free subscription to his exclusive weekly email updates.
Interested in learning how to buy gold and buy silver?
Call 1-888-GOLD-160 and speak with a Precious Metals Specialist today!


Related Posts

Chinese Gold Demand Continued to Surge in February

After ending 2022 on an upward trend that continued into January, Chinese gold demand surged again in February as the economy continues to rebound from government-imposed COVID policies. Gold withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) totaled 169 tons in February. This is a reflection of strong wholesale demand and signals an ongoing rebound in […]

READ MORE →

The Exploding Budget Deficit Is Another Big Problem for the Federal Reserve

February has historically been a big budget deficit month, but the Biden administration still managed to overachieve and run the second-largest February deficit ever. The only time the US government has run a February deficit bigger than the $262.4 billion shortfall last month was in February 2021 in the midst of the COVID stimulus. This […]

READ MORE →

India’s Oil Deals With Russia Further Erodes Petrodollar Dominance

Every government policy has consequences – some intended and some unintended. There is at least one serious unintended consequence of the economic sanctions levied against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine – an erosion of the US dollar dominance.

READ MORE →

Credit Card Borrowing Spiked in January Even as Big-Ticket Spending Slowed

In January, retail sales came in much hotter than expected. Now we know how consumers paid for the spending spree. They put it on credit cards. After slowing modestly in December, growth in revolving debt spiked again in January. But a slowdown in non-revolving credit moderated the overall increase in consumer debt. Overall, this signals […]

READ MORE →

Solar Energy Production Could Require Most of the Global Silver Reserves by 2050

Silver demand was at record levels in 2022 and there is reason to believe it will continue to run hot over the next several decades. One reason is the rapidly increasing demand for silver in the green energy sector. In fact, an Australian study projects solar cells may use most of the world’s silver reserves […]

READ MORE →

Comments are closed.

Call Now