Ancient alchemists believed that gold was the noble metal: Incapable of reacting with other minerals, it could exist only in its unsullied elemental form. Investors believe something similar about gold mining companies.
Like the alchemists — who later discovered that the yellow metal could be turned into a variety of useful chemical compounds — they might be making a mistake. Of the top 20 producers globally, almost all are pure-play miners that are only really serious about producing gold itself.
The exceptions — Freeport-McMoRan Inc. and Glencore Plc — end up on the list simply because their copper mines also contain a few veins of the more valuable stuff, which they can sell to make a bit of cash on the side. The world’s biggest miners don’t produce much gold, and the biggest gold miners produce little else.
