Gold is undoubtedly one of the most important natural resources in the world, a safe haven par excellence and one of the rarest metals in the world. Its importance within our economy is crucial, even if many basins are slowly starting to run out.
According to the US Geological Survey, China remains the largest gold producer in the
world, followed by Australia and Russia. Forget the gold rush of the American old west,
today gold is extracted mechanically in huge mines, open-pit basins in which there are many other metals besides gold.
In this short article, we will show you what are currently the 6 largest gold mines
in the world according to data collected by Forbes, which cites the World Gold Council.
Carlin Trend – Nevada (United States)
Its length is 1.4 km, and it belongs to Newmont Corporation. There are about 1,000 workers to mine the precious metal and it produces 7 million ounces of gold, the first gold district in the U.S. by quantity.
Muruntau – Navoiy (Uzbekistan)
It is an open pit quarry measuring 3.35 kilometers, 2.7 kilometers wide and 560 meters.
deep. It is a deposit discovered in 1958 and activated in 1969. It belongs to the national
company Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combinat and produces over 2.2 million ounces troy of gold.
Olympics – Krasnoyarsk (Russia)
This is the most productive mine in the area, also one of the largest in the world.
It measures 1.1 kilometers and belongs to the national company Polyu. The workers employed are more than 6000, and almost 1.4 million troy ounces of gold are extracted.
Grasberg – Irian Jaya (New Guinea)
It is the largest mine in the world for gold present, and the second for copper.
It is located at over 4000 meters high. It belongs to the Americans Freeport McMoRan
for 67.3%, the Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto Group for 13% and the Indonesian government
for 9.3%, employs about 19,500 workers and produces over 1.1 million troy ounces of gold.
TauTona – Witwatersrand (South Africa)
It is located between 1700 and 1800 meters high, and has about 800 kilometers of
tunnels up to 3.9 kilometers deep, making it the deepest mine in the world. The owner
of the mine is the South African AngloGold Ashanti, employs about 5600 workers and
produces 290,000 troy ounces of gold.
Lihir (Papua New Guinea)
In operation since 1997, it is one of the most impressive in Southeast Asia.
It is located inside a volcano at 2300 meters above sea level and, given its
proximity to the sea, requires powerful pumps to prevent flooding. It is 99.86%
owned by the Australian company Newcrest Mining, employs about 4500 workers and
produces 187,000 troy ounces of gold.