Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – What happens if a country finds mountains of gold suddenly like in Congo? Get rich all of a sudden?
Not really. Because it really depends on how much gold reserves that are found, of course.
As for gold reserves, Congo is not a country that is ranked among the 10 largest gold reserves in the world. In terms of its gold resources, Australia is the country with the largest gold in the world.
According to data United States Geological Survey (USGS), Australia is estimated to have as much as 10 thousand tons of gold reserves in 2020. Although from the side of Australian reserves, it is the largest or equivalent to 18.8% of the world’s total reserves, in terms of production Australia is still inferior to China.
Gold is mined in all northern states and territories of Australia. Western Australia is the location for the highest gold production in Kangaroo Country with a total of 211 tonnes in 2018.
New South Wales maintains the second position with 39 tonnes and Queensland has the third highest production with 18 tonnes in the same year. When calculated as a percentage, the share of production in Western Australia is 67% followed by New South Wales with 12% and Queensland with 6%.
There are at least 66 gold mines operating in Australia including the 14 largest gold mines in the world, 11 of which are located in Western Australia. If Western Australia were a country it would be the fifth largest gold producer in the world.
The discovery of gold in Western Australia sparked rapid industrial development and has contributed significantly to the growth and development of the country. The state’s history of gold mining stems from the first gold rush that was sparked by the discovery of the ‘Golden Mile’ at Kalgoorlie in the 1890s.
In 2016-17, gold was the second most valuable mineral sector in Western Australia (after iron ore) with sales of US $ 10.8 billion or representing 12.3% of total mineral sales. More than 75% of the State’s gold sales come from just ten producers.
Launching the NS Energy Business website, Australia has several large gold mines. In first place is Cadia Valley. In 2018-2019 the total production of this gold mine reached 912,778 troy ounces, equivalent to 28.4 tons.
In second place is the Boddington Gold Mine. Located in Western Australia and within 130 km from the city of Perth, the total production of this mine reaches 703,000 troy ounces of yellow metal or the equivalent of 21.86 tonnes.
Australia’s third largest gold mine is located in Victoria and is named Fosterville. The five-square-kilometer mine can produce 620,000 troy ounces of gold which is equivalent to 19.3 tonnes.
Those were the three biggest gold mines in Australia. The cumulative total gold production in the three locations reached 69.56 tonnes or more than one-fifth of the total production of Kangaroo Country in 2020.
Australia is known to be rich in natural resources, especially metal resources and mining products. So don’t be surprised if a large geographical area also holds large mountains of gold too.
(twg / sef)
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