70

GOLD

(Data in metric tons of gold content, unless otherwise noted) 1

Domestic Production and Use: Gold was produced by about 75 major lode mines, a dozen or more large placer

mines, nearly all in Alaska, and numerous smaller placer mines, mostly in Alaska and in the western States. In addition,

a small amount of domestic gold was recovered as a byproduct of processing base metals, chiefly copper. Twenty-five 

mines yielded the majority of the gold produced in the United States. The value of 1996 mine production was about

$4.1 billion. Commercial-grade refined gold came from about 2 dozen producers. A few dozen companies, out of

several thousand companies and artisans, dominated the fabrication of gold into commercial products. Jewelry

manufacturing was centered principally in the New York, NY, and Providence, RI, areas; and to a lesser extent, in

California, Florida, and Texas.

Salient Statistics—United States: 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996e

Production: Mine 330 331 327 320 325

Refinery: Primary 284 243 241 ( ) ( )

2 2

Secondary 163 152 148 ( ) ( )

2 2

Imports 159 144 114 126 160 3

Exports 308 726 395 347 600 3

Consumption, reported 110 91 76 ( ) ( )

4 4

Stocks, yearend, Treasury 8,150 8,140 8,140 8,140 8,140 5

Price, dollars per ounce 344.97 360.91 385.41 385.50 390.00

Employment, mine and mill, number 14,800 14,700 14,100 14,700 15,200 e 

Net import reliance as a percent of 6

apparent consumption E E E E E

Import Sources (1992-95): Canada, 67%; Bolivia, 5%; Chile, 5%; Mexico, 4%; and other, 19%. 3

Tariff: Most imports of unwrought gold, including bullion and doré, enter duty free.

Depletion Allowance: 15% (Domestic), 14% (Foreign).

Government Stockpile: The U.S. Department of the Treasury maintains stocks of gold (see salient statistics above)

and the U.S. Department of Defense administers a Government-wide secondary precious metals recovery program.

Events, Trends, and Issues: Domestic gold mine production in 1996 was estimated at slightly below the record levels

of recent years, but high enough to maintain the United States’ position as the world's second largest gold-producing

nation, after South Africa. Domestic output continued to be dominated by Nevada and California, where combined

production accounted for nearly 80% of the U.S. total. Gold mine closures recently have outpaced new gold mine

openings and expansions in the United States. At the same time, the average output per mine has increased, resulting

in a trend to fewer but larger gold mining operations in the United States. Most of the larger companies are successfully

replacing their annual production with new reserves, but smaller companies are finding this more difficult. Projections

indicate that worldwide gold exploration expenditures increased in 1996; however, there was a decrease in the

percentage of these funds focused on gold targets within the United States.

During the first 11 months of the year, the Engelhard Industries/London daily price of gold ranged from a low of about

$374 per troy ounce, in November, to nearly $416, in February. This price range was slightly above the low and high

reported for all of 1995. 

Prepared by Errol D. Sehnke, (703) 648-4980 [Fax: (703) 648-7757].
71

GOLD

World Mine Production, Reserves, and Reserve Base:

Mine production Reserves Reserve base 7 7

1995 1996e

United States 320 325 5,600 6,100

Australia 254 285 3,400 4,700

Brazil 72 80 800 1,300

Canada 150 160 1,500 3,500

China 140 150 NA NA e

Russia 132 120 3,100 3,400

South Africa 524 490 19,000 37,000

Uzbekistan 75 75 3,000 3,300

Other countries 583 600 9,500 12,000

World total (may be rounded) 2,250 2,300 46,000 71,000 8 8

Of an estimated 121,000 tons of gold mined from historical times through 1996, about 15% is thought to have been lost,

used in dissipative industrial uses, or otherwise unrecoverable or unaccounted for. Of the remaining 103,000 tons, an

estimated 35,000 tons is official stocks held by central banks and about 68,000 tons is privately held as coin, bullion,

and jewelry.

World Resources: Total world resources of gold are estimated at 86,000 tons, of which 15% to 20% is byproduct

resources. South Africa has about one-half of all world resources, and Brazil and the United States have about 12%

each. Some of the 9,000-ton U.S. resource would be recovered as byproduct gold.

Substitutes: Base metals clad with gold alloys are widely used in electrical/electronic and jewelry products to

economize on gold; many of these products are continually redesigned to maintain high utility standards with lower gold

content. Generally, palladium, platinum, and silver may substitute for gold.

Estimated. E Net exporter. NA Not available. e

Metric ton (1,000 kilograms) = 32,150.7 troy ounces. 1

Data under review. 2

Refined bullion, doré, ores, concentrates, and precipitates. 3

Excludes:

a. Waste and scrap.

b. Official monetary gold.

c. Gold in fabricated items.

d. Gold in coins. In 1991, the last year for which estimates are available, net imports amounted to 3.5 metric tons. 

e. Net bullion flow , in metric tons, to market from foreign stocks at the New York Federal Reserve Bank, 61.65 (1991), 136.4 (1992), 582.2 (1993),

216.6 (1994), 243.9 (1995), and 485.0 (1996 estimated).

Publication discontinued after 1994 owing to insufficient response by industry to the voluntary survey for consumption data.. 4

Includes gold in Exchange Stabilization Fund. Stocks were valued at the official price of $42.22 per troy ounce. 5

Defined as imports - exports + adjustments for Government and industry stock changes. 6

See Appendix C for definitions. 7

Excludes China and some other countries for which data were not available. Reserve base estimates have increased substantially because of newly 8

acquired information from Australia and South Africa.

U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, February 1997