An Overview of Gold Production in 2020

Last year, the price of gold set a new record when it sold for $2,000 per ounce, which gave miners a boost in profitability. However, the pandemic caused various mines across the globe to shut down, which in turn impacted the production of the precious metal.

Before gold is used in its numerous applications, such as jewelry, etc., it has to undergo a challenging production process, which usually starts with mining. Mining this precious metal is an international business. However, only a trio of countries, namely Russia, Australia and China, dominated gold production last year. The countries’ production of this metal made up about 30% of total global production, with Russia and Australia producing 300 and 320 tons respectively.

With 380 tons, China produced the highest amount of gold among the three countries, partly because it resumed its gold mining activities earliest after the lockdowns imposed by the pandemic. The country also made up about 30% of international demand for gold jewelry last year, which afforded miners an additional incentive to produce the metal.

In fourth place was the United States, which produced 190 tons of the precious metal last year. The majority of the country’s production was from mines in the state of Nevada. The largest gold mining firm in the world, Barrick Gold, produced about 80 tons of the country’s production in 2020, which equates to about 45%.

Other countries that produced significant amounts of gold last year include Indonesia, which gets most of its gold from the Grasberg mine. The mine has produced more than 50 million ounces of gold since the early 1990s, which equates to about 1,500 tons. Grasberg is one of the biggest gold mines in the world.

Cumulatively, miners produced roughly 3,240 tons of gold last year, which is a 3% decline in production when compared to the production of gold in 2019. Total above-ground gold stocks come to about 201,300 tons, which are distributed between central bank holdings, investments and jewelry.

Gold is usually admired for its permanence, beauty and value. As it derives some of its value from scarcity, one is left to wonder, how much gold is left globally?

The World Gold Council released estimates towards the end of 2020 which speculated that underground gold reserves added up to roughly 50,000 tons. The council noted that of this number, Russia and Australia hosted at least 17,000 tons, which is about 35% of the reserves.

At the current rate of production, the metal’s reserves are set to last less than two decades, and producers such as Asia Broadband Inc. (OTC: AABB) could be in for good times when the demand for gold eventually outstrips its supply.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Asia Broadband Inc. (OTC: AABB) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/AABB

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