A report by Fitch Solutions states that the period 2018-2022 is seeing a growth in gold production because slightly higher prices and stronger company financials are encouraging greater mine investment.
“We forecast global gold production to increase from 104moz in 2018 to 115moz by 2022, averaging 2.6% annual growth,” the document reads.”We expect gold prices to continue to head higher, averaging USD1,275/oz in 2018 and USD1,400/oz by 2022,” it adds.
According to the market researcher, Russia will lead the rising trend with a 4% growth this year, up from 0.8% last year. In the longer term, Fitch says Russian gold production will continue to grow because there are some 19 projects due to come online. Among them is Polyus Gold’s Natalka project, which should be fully operational by the end of the year with a production capacity of 420-470koz per year.
“We expect Russian gold production growth to accelerate in 2018 as domestic demand for the precious metal is buoyed by the prospect of further western sanctions on state-banks, which will respond by increasing their reserves of gold,” the market researcher says.
When it comes to the US, Fitch forecasts steady production growth, which should rise from 8.0moz in 2018 to 8.6moz by 2027.
For the rest of this article: http://www.mining.com/gold-production-grow-next-four-years-report/