Mining
Mapped: The 10 Largest Gold Mines in the World, by Production
Subscribe to the Elements free mailing list for more like this
The 10 Largest Gold Mines in the World, by Production
This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.
Gold mining is a global business, with hundreds of mining companies digging for the precious metal in dozens of countries.
But where exactly are the largest gold mines in the world?
The above infographic uses data compiled from S&P Global Market Intelligence and company reports to map the top 10 gold-producing mines in 2021.
Editor’s Note: The article uses publicly available global production data from the World Gold Council to calculate the production share of each mine. The percentages slightly differ from those calculated by S&P.
The Top Gold Mines in 2021
The 10 largest gold mines are located across nine different countries in North America, Oceania, Africa, and Asia.
Together, they accounted for around 13 million ounces or 12% of global gold production in 2021.
Rank | Mine | Location | Production (ounces) | % of global production |
---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | Nevada Gold Mines | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 3,311,000 | 2.9% |
#2 | Muruntau | 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | 2,990,020 | 2.6% |
#3 | Grasberg | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 1,370,000 | 1.2% |
#4 | Olimpiada | 🇷🇺 Russia | 1,184,068 | 1.0% |
#5 | Pueblo Viejo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | 814,000 | 0.7% |
#6 | Kibali | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | 812,000 | 0.7% |
#7 | Cadia | 🇦🇺 Australia | 764,895 | 0.7% |
#8 | Lihir | 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea | 737,082 | 0.6% |
#9 | Canadian Malartic | 🇨🇦 Canada | 714,784 | 0.6% |
#10 | Boddington | 🇦🇺 Australia | 696,000 | 0.6% |
N/A | Total | N/A | 13,393,849 | 11.7% |
Share of global gold production is based on 3,561 tonnes (114.5 million troy ounces) of 2021 production as per the World Gold Council.
In 2019, the world’s two largest gold miners—Barrick Gold and Newmont Corporation—announced a historic joint venture combining their operations in Nevada. The resulting joint corporation, Nevada Gold Mines, is now the world’s largest gold mining complex with six mines churning out over 3.3 million ounces annually.
Uzbekistan’s state-owned Muruntau mine, one of the world’s deepest open-pit operations, produced just under 3 million ounces, making it the second-largest gold mine. Muruntau represents over 80% of Uzbekistan’s overall gold production.
Only two other mines—Grasberg and Olimpiada—produced more than 1 million ounces of gold in 2021. Grasberg is not only the third-largest gold mine but also one of the largest copper mines in the world. Olimpiada, owned by Russian gold mining giant Polyus, holds around 26 million ounces of gold reserves.
Polyus was also recently crowned the biggest miner in terms of gold reserves globally, holding over 104 million ounces of proven and probable gold between all deposits.
How Profitable is Gold Mining?
The price of gold is up by around 50% since 2016, and it’s hovering near the all-time high of $2,000/oz.
That’s good news for gold miners, who achieved record-high profit margins in 2020. For every ounce of gold produced in 2020, gold miners pocketed $828 on average, significantly higher than the previous high of $666/oz set in 2011.
With inflation rates hitting decade-highs in several countries, gold mining could be a sector to watch, especially given gold’s status as a traditional inflation hedge.
Mining
White Gold: Mapping U.S. Lithium Mines
In this graphic, Visual Capitalist partnerered with EnergyX to explore the size and location of U.S. lithium mines.
White Gold: Mapping U.S. Lithium Mines
The U.S. doubled imports of lithium-ion batteries for the third consecutive year in 2022, and with EV demand growing yearly, U.S. lithium mines must ramp up production or rely on other nations for their supply of refined lithium.
To determine if the domestic U.S. lithium opportunity can meet demand, we partnered with EnergyX to determine how much lithium sits within U.S. borders.
U.S. Lithium Projects
The most crucial measure of a lithium mine’s potential is the quantity that can be extracted from the source.
For each lithium resource, the potential volume of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) was calculated with a ratio of one metric ton of lithium producing 5.32 metric tons of LCE. Cumulatively, existing U.S. lithium projects contain 94.8 million metric tons of LCE.
Rank | Project Name | LCE, million metric tons (est.) |
---|---|---|
1 | McDermitt Caldera | 21.5 |
2 | Thacker Pass | 19.1 |
3 | Tonopah Flats | 18.0 |
4 | TLC Lithium | 10.7 |
5 | Clayton Valley (Century Lithium) | 6.3 |
6 | Zeus Lithium | 6.3 |
7 | Rhyolite Ridge | 3.4 |
8 | Arkansas Smackover (Phase 1A) | 2.8 |
9 | Basin Project | 2.2 |
10 | McGee Deposit | 2.1 |
11 | Arkansas Smackover (South West) | 1.8 |
12 | Clayton Valley (Lithium-X, Pure Energy) | 0.8 |
13 | Big Sandy | 0.3 |
14 | Imperial Valley/Salton Sea | 0.3 |
U.S. Lithium Opportunities, By State
U.S. lithium projects mainly exist in western states, with comparatively minor opportunities in central or eastern states.
State | LCE, million metric tons (est.) |
---|---|
Nevada | 88.2 |
Arkansas | 4.6 |
Arizona | 2.5 |
California | 0.3 |
Currently, the U.S. is sitting on a wealth of lithium that it is underutilizing. For context, in 2022, the U.S. only produced about 5,000 metric tons of LCE and imported a projected 19,000 metric tons of LCE, showing that the demand for the mineral is healthy.
The Next Gold Rush?
U.S. lithium companies have the opportunity to become global leaders in lithium production and accelerate the transition to sustainable energy sources. This is particularly important as the demand for lithium is increasing every year.
EnergyX is on a mission to meet U.S. lithium demands using groundbreaking technology that can extract 300% more lithium from a source than traditional methods.
You can take advantage of this opportunity by investing in EnergyX and joining other significant players like GM in becoming a shareholder.
-
Energy1 month ago
Charted: Global Uranium Reserves, by Country
We visualize the distribution of the world’s uranium reserves by country, with 3 countries accounting for more than half of total reserves.
-
Energy3 months ago
The Periodic Table of Commodity Returns (2014-2023)
Commodity returns in 2023 took a hit. This graphic shows the performance of commodities like gold, oil, nickel, and corn over the last decade.
-
China3 months ago
China Dominates the Supply of U.S. Critical Minerals List
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that in 2022, China was the world’s leading producer of 30 out of 50 entries on the U.S. critical minerals list.
-
Strategic Metals4 months ago
The Critical Minerals to China, EU, and U.S. National Security
Ten materials, including cobalt, lithium, graphite, and rare earths, are deemed critical by all three.
-
Mining4 months ago
All the Metals We Mined in One Visualization
This infographic visualizes the 2.8 billion tonnes of metals mined in 2022.
-
Precious Metals6 months ago
200 Years of Global Gold Production, by Country
Global gold production has grown exponentially since the 1800s, with 86% of all above-ground gold mined in the last 200 years.
-
Misc5 days ago
Mapped: Asia’s Population Patterns by Density
-
Markets1 week ago
Ranked: The 20 Top Chinese Stocks by Market Cap, and Performance YTD
-
Markets1 week ago
Will Tesla Lose Its Spot in the Magnificent Seven?
-
Technology1 week ago
Charted: The Jobs Most Impacted by AI
-
Markets1 week ago
Visualizing the Biggest Companies on Major Stock Exchanges
-
Money1 week ago
The World’s Top 50 Largest Banks by Consolidated Assets
-
Demographics1 week ago
Visualizing the Declining Birth Rate in Japan
-
Technology1 week ago
The World’s Largest Corporate Holders of Bitcoin