Where on Earth Are the Largest Gold Mines?

Before gold finds its way into your jewelry, coins, and even teeth, it is drawn from the Earth by extremely hard-working individuals. Gold production is a world-wide endeavor. In this article we’ll travel from the United States to Europe to South America, and discuss where are the largest gold mines on the planet.

1.    Nevada Gold Mines

The United States is home to the largest gold mining complex on the planet. As is often the case, this literal massive gold mine is the combined efforts of several organizations. Two of the world’s largest gold miners Newmont Corporation and Barrick Gold united their Nevada operations in 2019. From this partnership came a gold complex with six mines. Overall the venture creates 3.3 million ounces of gold annually. For perspective, an elephant is 192,000 ounces, meaning every year the Nevada Gold Mines produces about 172 elephants of gold.

2.    Muruntau

For the number two slot of the largest gold mines on Earth, we go west from Nevada all the way to Uzbekistan. There we find the Muruntau mining complex, where an open-pit mine produces an estimated 3 million ounces of gold annually. Open pit mines, by the way, are mines where the precious metals rest near the top. They are essentially large holes in the ground. The one in Muruntau is 600 m deep, more than 3.3 km long, and 2.5 km wide. Uzbekistan’s Navoi company, state-owned, operates the mine, which generates over 80 percent of the country’s gold production.

3.    Grasberg

Aside from being the third-biggest gold mine in the world, the Freeport-McMoRan’s Grasberg deposit in Papua, Indonesia is also the largest copper mine and block-caving operation. Nicknamed “ore mountain” by the Dutch geologist who discovered it in 1936, the mine employs 30,000 people. One finds it 4,100 m above sea level close to Papua’s tallest mountain, Puncak Jaya. The mine generated 1,370 koz of gold in 2020.

4.    Olimpiada

Traveling back to Eurasia we find the fourth largest gold mine on Earth. In Eastern Siberia’s Severo-Yeniseysky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai is the gigantic Olimpiada mine. This mine possesses the largest gold reserves globally. It has over 104 million ounces. It also processes a tremendous amount of ore, over 13 million tons of it every year.

5.    Pueblo Viejo

Travel about 100 km northwest of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, and you will hit the Pueblo Viejo mine. The largest gold mine in South America is run by the Pueblo Viejo Domincana Corporation. It generates about 2,500 to 3,200 ounces of gold per day, and has an annual output between 800,000 and 1 million ounces.

6.    Lihir Mine

Run by Newcrest Mining, the Lihir Gold Mine is on Paupua New Guinea’s Lihir Island. Uniquely, the mine lives inside an active volcano crater. It uses geothermal water management to keep the operations functional. Its yearly production lives between 800,000 to 900,000 ounces.

Conclusion

Gold production touches every corner of the globe. Hopefully after reading this article, you have a better idea of the industry’s scope. Before the gold ends up in jewelry and other products, one must take it from the ground. The resources needed to make that happen are truly staggering.