The research team of "World Mining" ranked 80 gold-producing mining companies worldwide based on gold output. With a few exceptions, most of the listed companies are publicly traded, and the data primarily comes from company announcements. As of February 3, about 75% of the companies on the list have announced preliminary results for 2020 production; additional data was collected and organized by the research team. The total output of the listed companies is 1,850 tons, accounting for approximately 55% of the total global gold production reported by GlobalData (3,359 tons), a decrease of 2% compared to last year's output from the same mining companies (1,880 tons).

The top ten remained unchanged, with Newmont and Barrick leading by a wide margin, being the only two mining companies with production exceeding 100 tons. The state-owned and unlisted Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Combinat in Uzbekistan has the Muruntau gold mine, which is the largest gold mine in the world, producing about 60 tons annually. Shandong Gold leads domestic peers in production and is the only Chinese mining company to enter the top ten.

The threshold for the top 20 is 28 tons, with two Chinese mining companies appearing in the 11-20 range, Zijin Mining and China Gold, ranking 13th and 14th respectively. Kirkland Lake Gold and Endeavour Mining have rapidly advanced in ranking through the acquisition of Detour Gold and Semafo, while Harmony Gold has been severely affected by the pandemic, resulting in a drop in ranking. Notably, Polaris Resources' acquisition of Saracen Mineral Holdings and Endeavour Mining's acquisition of Teranga Gold have not yet been completed, and they are expected to move up further after the transactions are finalized. As a diversified miner, Glencore has significant by-product gold output, ranking 19th.

In the 21-50 range, there is one Chinese mining company, Zhaojin Mining, ranked 27th. SSR Mining and Fortitude Gold have significantly advanced in ranking through the acquisition of Alacer Gold and Leagold, while Peru's Fortuna Silver Mines has been severely impacted by the pandemic, leading to a rapid decline in ranking. Similar to Glencore, diversified miners Vale, BHP, and Rio Tinto are also on the list, along with Fresnillo, which primarily focuses on silver, and Pan American Silver.

In the 51-80 range, production is less than 10 tons, with eight Chinese mining companies clustered together, including Yunnan Gold, Silver Tai Gold, Chifeng Gold, Shandong Zhongkuang, Western Gold, Hunan Gold, Lingbao Jinyuan, and Lingbao Gold. Notably, unlike other peers with similar production levels, Chifeng Gold has made significant strides in internationalization, with production more than doubling compared to 2019, rapidly expanding its Laos Sepon Gold Mine and acquiring the Bibiani Gold Mine in Ghana, which is expected to accelerate production and improve its ranking.

Source: World Mining