Modern Mining April 2024

that 2024 will mark a new high in gold mine produc tion. However, one of the significant trends that has emerged, is one of plateauing of new mine supply. The prospects for the next few years show limited growth in gold production. In essence, the years of rapid gold mine growth that we saw between 2009 and 2018, have come to an end.” Africa’s potential as a future gold producer In terms of future potential and probable discoveries of gold and other crucial minerals, Africa offers large and under-explored potential with the continent

steadily over the years, countries on the African con tinent have increasingly been supplementing gold production. Over the past six years, China emerged as the largest gold mining country and, within the African continent, Mali and Ghana have surfaced as two significant gold producers. Moreover, there has been growth in gold production from around the world, including Australia and Russia, which are in joint second place with just over 300 tonnes of production each. Canada is the fourth largest gold producer with the US holding the fifth position,” says Reade. While there opportunities exist to bring new gold

Africa is emerging as an important gold producer.

South Africa’s gold production has declined steadily over the years.

mines into production globally, progress in discovering, permitting, financing and developing new gold mines has slowed. Explains Reade: “Mines are not like factories; they can’t produce indefinitely. Eventually, they run out of gold to mine profitably, and the mines shut down. So, explorers constantly need to be searching for and developing new gold mines.” Although gold production peaked in 2018 at 3 347 t, production has since declined and in 2023 only 3 000 t of gold was produced globally. A combination of factors, including pro duction interruptions, safety stoppages in China, strike action in South Africa and other countries, coupled with the impact of Covid, have all hindered the global gold industry’s ability to grow beyond the peak production of 2018. “Based on forecasts from our data partners, Metals Focus, barring any major incidents from around the world, we expect

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