|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You Are
Here: |
Marketplace News|
Monday, March 20, 2006 - Web posted at 7:06:03 GMT China could become leading gold producer JOHANNESBURG - China's annual gold output is currently increasing at a rate of 5 per cent a year, and by 2009 the country could surpass South Africa or Australia as the world's number one gold miner, New York-based CPM group managing director Jeffery Christian said. |
|
South Africa has been the world's largest gold miner for decades. If South African gold output was to stabilise at current levels and Chinese production was to continue increasing at 5 per cent a year, then China would be the world's largest gold producer by 2009, he added at a presentation organised by Noah Financial in Johannesburg. In 2005, South Africa's gold output collapsed to 296,3 tonnes or 9,5-million troy ounces, the lowest gold production since 1923, when it was 284,6 tonnes. A decade ago, China was producing three million oz of gold a year, to about seven million oz at present. "There is quite a bit of exploration on the go in China," Christian said. Australia, which is currently producing about eight million oz of gold a year, could also surpass South African gold output in the year ahead, Christian said. "When I started in this business, South Africa produced 75 per cent to 80 per cent of global gold production," he added. In 2004, South Africa accounted for about 17,7 per cent of global gold output from major-market economies, according to CPM estimates. The South African gold industry continued to suffer as it had a high-cost structure, Christian said. "In a longer-term perspective, it is possible that some of these reserves and resources [in South Africa] could come into production," he added. - I-Net Bridge |
|
||||
PO Box 20783 - Windhoek - 42 John Meinert Street Tel: +264 (61) 279600 - Fax: +264 (61) 279602
|
