Gold Mine Production – Then and Now

Needless to say, there are no actual statistics for gold production in ancient times. Something approaching reliable indications of production in certain areas began to appear in the middle of the second millennium. In his sweeping survey of gold history over the period 1000–1999, Tim Green gave estimates of annual production for the whole world of around 3 tonnes in the 11th century to some 450 tonnes by the end of the 19th century.

The map shown here attempts, rather heroically, to quantify the comparative importance of the various producing regions in antiquity (the Greco-Roman era) and in the period since the Middle Ages. In antiquity, the importance of Spain as a source of gold for Rome is highlighted, as is the production in West Africa. In the more modern era, it is clear that gold production is much more diversified geographically. Gold occurrences are by no means rare, witness for example the recent, if small-scale, commercial operations in both Scotland and Wales.

But what really stands out in the modern era is the dominance of the so-called “big 6” mining countries:

South Africa, the United States, Australia, Canada, Russia and China (but not necessarily in that order).

Gold mining, like any other extractive industry results in ore bodies being depleted and unless new goldfields are discovered, national production inevitably declines. Gold mines never actually run out of ore. But as ore grades decline and as mines get deeper, they will all eventually cease to be economically viable. This cruel reality can be seen most clearly for South Africa whose legendary mining industry produced 1,000 tonnes in 1970, 70% of world supply. But its production has dropped steadily since then and having lost its first place to China in 2007, South Africa now produces only somewhat over 100 tonnes, which now puts it at number 8 in the world.

Gold Mine Production (tonnes)