Tanzania is the 4th largest gold producer in Africa but production decreased significantly in 2013, down to a little over 16 tones from nearly 19 tonnes. This is largely due to the fact that one of the country’s highest yielding mines, the Golden Pride Mine, along with the African Barrick Gold’s (ABG) Tulawaka mine are closing.
Chile produced 55 tonnes of gold in 2013. The country’s production declined substantially from 2000 to 2010. That being said, Barrick Gold’s Pascua-Lama mine in Chile is said to contain 18 million ounces of gold.
Colombia’s gold production was at 55.7 tonnes in 2013, which was a significant slip from the previous year. However, the country has no shortage of precious exports since it is the top country of emerald production.
Papua New Guinea produced 60 tonnes of gold in 2013. In 2011, the country commenced work at the Hidden Valley gold-silver mine and has many more potential mining projects in store over the next decade.
Argentina produced almost 62 tonnes of gold in the beginning of 2014 which is up from the average annual production of 40.52 between the years of 2000 and 2014.
Brazil produced 74 tonnes of gold in 2013. The country has been mining gold since the 1700s, when a big “gold rush” hit the then Portuguese colony. Gold, iron, copper and bauxite make up 20% of the country’s exports.
Mexico is the No. 10 producer on our list. Here, gold production increased by 55 percent between 2008 and 2011. In 2011, Mexico produced 86.6 tonnes of gold – 3 percent of world production – valued at some $4.3 billion.
During the colonial era, Ghana’s official name was “Gold Coast” and today it’s still living up to the name. Ghana is the world’s ninth-largest producer of gold, in 2011 pulling 91 tonnes of the precious stuff from the Earth valued at nearly $5 billion. This accounted for almost 12 percent of Ghana’s gross domestic product that year. It represented 3.23 percent of world gold production.
No. 8 on our list is Canada, which produced around 10.7 tones of gold in 2011 worth some $5.4 billion dollars. This accounted for 3.82 percent of the world’s production. Gold accounted for 0.31 percent of the Canada’s GDP in 2011.
Uzbekistan produced 93 tonnes of gold in 2013 and has plans to increase production. By 2020 the country hopes to produce 120 tonnes of gold per year by investing $4.5 billion into the mining process.
With 111 tones of gold in 2011, Indonesia is the world’s seventh-largest producer of gold, accounting for 3.94 percent of global production. In 2011, it banked $5.6 billion in gold revenue, accounting for 0.66 percent of the country’s GDP.
Peru is the world’s sixth-largest producer of gold. In 2011 it mined 188 tonnes, worth around $9.4 billion, that accounted for 6.67 percent of the world’s production. Though five other countries produce more gold than Peru, gold is more important for Peru’s economy than any other country on this list. It accounted for 5.37 percent of Peru’s GDP in 2011 — the highest percentage of any other country on this list. By comparison, the U.S. produces far more gold than Peru, but gold accounts for less than one tenth of 1 percent of the U.S. GDP.
In the 20th century, South Africa dominated when it came to gold production. In 1970, for instance, South Africa accounted for 79 percent of the entire world’s gold output. Today its output is far less substantial. In 2011 South Africa produced 7 percent of the world’s gold when it hauled up 197.9 tonnes of the precious metal valued at nearly $10 billion. Gold accounts for 2.45 percent of South Africa’s GDP.
No. 4 on our list is Russia, producing 211.9 tonnes of gold in 2011 which accounted for 7.52 percent of world production valued at around $10.7 billion. Gold production accounts for less than 1 percent (0.58 percent) of Russia’s GDP.
The U.S. is the world’s third-largest producer of gold. Despite hauling up 232.8 tonnes — or 8.26 percent — of all gold produced around the world in 2011, this still accounted for just a fraction of 1 percent of the country’s GDP — 0.08 percent to be exact. The value of that cache: nearly $11.8 billion.
Gold is $13-billion-plus industry in Australia, the world’s second largest producer. In 2011 it minded 258.3 tones, which equals about 9 percent of the world’s gold production. Australian gold production has shrunk since its heyday in the 1850s after prospectors struck gold there, triggering a gold rush around Victoria in 1851. Australia was producing 40 percent of the world’s gold for a while.
China produces more gold than any other country and its citizens have a voracious appetite for the precious metal. In 2011, China mined 371 tonnes of gold valued at $18.7 billion. In 2013, China officially overtook India as the world’s largest consumer of gold when demand soared by 32 percent. In 2011 China produced 13.16 percent of the world’s gold, accounting for 0.26 percent of its GDP.
