Gold bars stored in the HSBC vaults in London
Photo: Reuters
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Russia, China Emerge as Key Gold Producers
The global market of gold is hitting all records recently with the prices nearing the physiologically vital $1,000 per an ounce. But the production isn’t forecasted to gain momentum in the nearest years, the skyrocketing prices notwithstanding.
The analysts say that the solid rising trend on the gold market has changed the highlights. New prospecting is shifting from South Africa to the countries like Russia and China.
The global gold production has lowered by 6 percent since 2001 and analysts don’t expect record prices to reverse the trend in the nearest years. “Pick a number, even at $1,200 or $2,000, even at those very high prices, the existing resource bases are getting depleted that you can’t stop,” Reuters quoted as saying RBC Capital Markets analyst Leon Esterhuizen.
“The high gold price will certainly encourage exploration, the question is when you find the stuff, how long will that take to get into production,” the analyst added.
What’s more, the progress in development of new deposits is slowed down by the shortages of workers and infrastructure coupled with high production costs and legal restrictions in some emerging economies. Canada’s Teck Cominco, for instance, has already reported the suspension of several projects, including the Galore Creek gold and copper project, giving the surge in capital costs as the basic reason.
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