The 10 Largest Gold Mines in the World

Adrian Bishton • 20 May 2022

Gold mining is a global business, with hundreds of mining companies digging for the precious metal in dozens of countries around the world. But where exactly are the largest gold mines? Are they in the USA or Australia?

We have used the publicly available data compiled from S&P Global Market Intelligence,  the  World Gold Council  and other company reports to map and calculate the top 10 gold-producing mines in 2021. Please note 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.

Sourced from Elements

In 2019, the two largest gold miners in the world —Barrick Gold and Newmont Corporation—made history by announcing a joint venture combining their operations in Nevada, USA. The joint corporation is called Nevada Gold Mines, and is now the world’s largest gold mining complex with six mines churning out over 3.3 million ounces annually.

The Muruntau mine, which is located in Uzbekistan, is one of the world’s deepest open-pit operations, produced just under 3 million ounces - making it the second-largest gold mine in the world. In fact, according to the data we have analysed Muruntau represents over 80% of Uzbekistan’s overall gold production.

The only two other mines that produced more than 1 million ounces of gold in 2021 were Grasberg and Olimpiada. Grasberg is not only the third-largest gold mine but is also one of the largest copper mines in the world. And Olimpiada, owned by Russian gold mining giant Polyus, holds around 26 million ounces of gold reserves. Did you know Polyus was  crowned the biggest miner in terms of gold reserves globally, holding over 104 million ounces of proven and probable gold between all deposits? Well, now you do.

But How Profitable is Gold Mining?

According to the data, the price of gold was up by (at the time the stats were collected) 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 worldwide, gold mining could be a sector to watch, especially given gold’s status as a traditional inflation hedge.

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