PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australian gold production in the first three months of the year reached records not seen since 1998, mining consultants Surbiton Associates have reported.

Gold production in the three months to March totalled 78 t across Australia. However, this was down 3 t, or 4%, from the last quarter of 2018.

“The March quarter almost invariably sees the lowest gold output as it is only 90 days long, compared with 91 days in the June quarter and 92 days in the September and December quarters,” said Surbiton director Dr Sandra Close.

“Every day makes a difference, since Australia’s current production of around 320 t of gold a year, is nearly nine-tenths of a tonne of gold a day.”

“In addition, production is often lost in the March quarter due to bad weather in the tropical cyclone season. While some production was lost in north Queensland this year, the northern part of Western Australia was far less affected than usual.”

Close noted that Australia remained the world’s second-largest gold producer after China, with annual output worth almost A$19-billion at current gold prices around A$1 850/oz.

“For some years now we have seen local gold production rising. Many producers have been taking advantage of the Australian dollar gold price over that period, as it has continued an upward trend, despite the usual volatility.”

Close rebuffed claims that Australian mines were ‘running out of gold’ and that Australian gold production was on a ‘production cliff’, saying that there were several factors that affect ore reserves and therefore the life of each mine.

“I cannot predict the future but at the moment there do not appear to be major causes for concern on the horizon,” she added.

Close said that changes in gold prices and exchange rates plus changes in costs, right through from exploration to mining and processing, are all factors which affect the economics of mining any individual deposit and therefore the longevity of any particular mining operation.

“It should be remembered that Australia is a land of generally small and medium-sized gold mines and large multimillion-ounce discoveries are quite rare. Just because such large deposits are seldom discovered locally, it does not mean that total Australian gold production is about to fall in a heap.”

Australia is currently estimated to have the largest reserves of gold with 9 800 t, or enough for 31 years’ production at current rates. South Africa’s reserves are the second largest at 6 000 t, or 50 years’ production. China, the world’s largest producer of gold has just 2 000 t, or only five years, of reserves.