Gold mine production was up modestly in 2022 as mining operations normalized post-pandemic. But mine output still hasn’t returned to the peak we saw in 2018, boosting speculation that we have possibly reached “peak gold.”
Global gold mine production increased in 2021 as economies opened up after the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. But mine output did not recover to pre-pandemic levels, and overall gold supply fell for the second straight year.
According to data released by the World Gold Council, annual mine production increased 2% year on year, growing to 3,560.7 tons last year compared to 3,474.7 tons in 2020.
Gold mine output has flatlined over the last several years and that trend appears to be continuing in 2019. In fact, some analysts believe we may be at or near “peak gold.”
According to the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends Q3 report, gold mine output fell slightly with total mine production coming in at 877.8 tons in Q3. On a year-to-date basis, mine production stands at 2,583 tons. That’s virtually identical to production levels at this point in 2018.
Australian mines are running out of gold, according to a report by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Analysts say Australia sits poised above a “production cliff.” The country could slip from the world’s second-largest gold producer to fourth by 2024.
The Australian gold mining industry faces the same problem as South Africa’s – aging mines.
Is the world really running out of gold?
According to a report in Deutsche Welle, it just might be.
Gold output in South Africa fell for the 14th straight month in November. According to Bloomberg, it ranks as the longest streak of monthly declines since 2012.
Production fell 14% from a year earlier, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said in a statement on its website last week.
South Africa once led the world in gold production. The precipitous drop in the country’s mine output over the last few years is expected to continue and could foreshadow a long-term trend of falling gold production globally.
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Gold production in China fell nearly 8% year-on-year in the first half of 2018, according to data released by the China Gold Association.
China ranks as the world’s leading gold producer.
Global mine production fell slightly in 2017, the first drop in mine output since 2008. In fact, gold production has generally increased every year since the 1970s. The drop in 2008 was something of an anomaly, as it occurred at the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. The recent slowdown in mine production is more concerning. In fact, many people speculate we may be at or near “peak gold.”
South African gold output saw its biggest drop in over a year in May, falling 16.2% year-on-year. This is another sign that the one-time world leader in gold production could be running out of the yellow metal.
May’s decline came on the heels of a 5.8% drop in production in April. It was the eighth consecutive month of declining output for South African gold mines, according to Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa.
