Rua Gold Inc. (TSXV: RUA, OTC: NZAUF, WKN: H8E)
An Emerging Gold Explorer with Two Highly Prospective Land Packages in New Zealand’s historical gold fields.
Rapidly growing investment demand and concerns about gold supply, drove the price of gold to record highs in 2024, which is still fluctuating near all-time highs. According to the latest data from the U.S. Geological Survey, global gold production will be around 3,000 metric tonnes in 2023, with the three countries with the highest gold production being China, Australia and Russia.
Meanwhile, data from LSEG, a leading financial market data provider, shows that the top 10 producers producing the most gold globally in 2023 are as follows:
Production: 172.3 tons
Newmont is the world’s most prolific gold producer, with mining operations in North and South America, Asia, Australia and Africa, producing 172.3 tonnes of gold in 2023. Last year, Newmont merged with Australia’s Newcrest Mining to become the world’s largest gold mining company. Newcrest reported 2022 gold production of 67.3 metric tonnes. Newmont’s 2024 gold production guidance is 6.9 million ounces, or 215.6 tonnes.
Production: 126 tons
Barrick Gold has been keen on M&A activity over the past five years. On top of merging its Nevada assets with Newmont in 2019, the company also completed the acquisition of Randgold Resources last year. In addition to its gold mines in Nevada, Barrick holds the Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic and the Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali, which produced 335,000 ounces and 547,000 ounces of gold in 2023, respectively. The company’s gold production in 2023 was 2 per cent lower than the previous year. Barrick was blaming lower output at the Carlin mine due to the closure of the Gold Quarry concentrator earlier in the year and the conversion of the Goldstrike mine to the conventional carbon leach process.
Production: 106.8 tons
Agnico Eagle Mines has 11 operating mines in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico, including two of the world’s top gold-producing mines acquired from Yamana Gold in early 2023 – the Malartic mine in Quebec, Canada, and the Detour Lake mine in Ontario. The Canadian gold mining company achieved record annual production in 2023 and also increased its gold reserves by 10.5% to 53.8 million ounces (1.29 million metric tonnes grading 1.3 grams of gold per metric tonne). Gold production in 2024 is expected to reach between 3.35 million and 3.55 million ounces (104.7 to 110.9 tonnes).
Production: 90.3 tons
Polyus produced 90.3 tonnes of gold last year, ranking it fourth among the top 10 global gold companies. The company is Russia’s largest gold producer, with the world’s highest proven and probable gold reserves of more than 101 million ounces. Polyus owns six operating gold mines in Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, including the Olimpiada mine, which is the world’s third-largest gold mine in terms of production. The company expects to produce approximately 2.7 to 2.8 million ounces (84.4 to 87.5 tonnes) of gold in 2024.
Production: 88.9 tons
Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company is not yet listed on a Western stock exchange, but is already among the world’s top gold producers, with gold production of 88.9 tonnes in 2023. The company has been operating since the 1960s and produced its first gold ingot in 1969 at its Muruntau mine, the fifth deepest open pit gold mine in the world and one of the largest in the world.
Production: 82 tons
AngloGold Ashanti produced 82 tonnes of gold in 2023, the company has nine gold operations in seven countries on three continents and numerous exploration projects around the world. Most of the company’s production comes from its African operations, which produced 1.54 million ounces, or 59% of total production. In 2023, the company’s gold production declined to 2.59 million ounces from 2.67 million ounces in 2022, a decrease of 3%, but it remained above the set production guidance.
Production: 71.7 tons
Gold Fields reported 2023 gold production of 71.7 tonnes. The company is a globally diversified gold producer with nine operating mines in Australia, Chile, Peru, West Africa and South Africa. Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti recently merged exploration assets in Ghana, which they claim will be the largest gold mine in Africa. The joint venture has the potential to produce an average of 900,000 ounces (or 28.1 tonnes) of gold per year in the first five years of operation. The company’s production guidance for 2024 is between 2.33 million and 2.43 million ounces (or 72.8 tonnes and 75.9 tonnes).
Production: 67 tons
Kinross Gold owns six mines in the Americas (Brazil, Chile, Canada and the U.S.) and East Africa (Mauritania), with the largest producing mines being the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania and the Paracatu gold mine in Brazil. In 2023, Kinross produced 67 tonnes of gold, a 10% increase over 2022 production. The company attributes this growth to increased production at its La Coipa gold mine in Chile and higher concentrator grades at its Tasiast mine.
Production: 62 tons
Freeport-McMoRan, known for its copper production, produced 62 tonnes of gold in 2023, the vast majority of which came from the company’s Grasberg gold mine in Indonesia, which is the world’s second-largest gold mine by production. In its 2023 financial results report, Freeport-McMoRan noted that long-term mine development activities are underway at the Kucing Liar deposit, which is part of the Grasberg mine. The company expects the deposit to ultimately produce more than 7 billion pounds of copper and 6 million ounces of gold from 2029 to the end of 2041.
Production: 53.72 tons
Solidcore Resources, formerly known as Polymetal International, has two operating mines in Kazakhstan. The company sold several operating assets in Russia in the first quarter of this year. Including the Russian mines, the company’s 2023 gold production is 1.71 million ounces. Management’s forecast for 2024 is for gold production from the remaining assets to be around 475,000 ounces.
