Last year, gold prices hit record highs. Against the background of trade wars and active purchases by central banks, the price of the precious metal soared by more than 60%. In January 2026, quotes reached a historical peak of almost $5,600 per ounce. However, then the market was overwhelmed by a wave of sales. Already in March, gold fell in price by 15%, almost completely eliminating the annual growth. Gold Mining Shares also came under attack: industry leaders lost from 20 to 40% of capitalization.
But the long-term outlook remains positive. Central banks continue to increase gold reserves, and private demand, according to the World Gold Council, exceeded 5 thousand tons per year for the first time in history. Production also updated the record, coming very close to this mark. For the first time since 2018, global production from mines reached 3.67 thousand tons. Below is how the volumes were distributed at the largest fields on the planet according to S&P Global.
Remains the absolute leader Nevada Gold Mines in USA. This giant complex, where Barrick owns 61.5% and Newmont owns 38.5%, produced 2.6 million ounces. True, this is 3% less than a year earlier. But at the end of last year, a conflict broke out between the partners: Newmont accused Barrick of redirecting resources to its own Fourmile project.
Second place Uzbek Muruntau field. State-owned Navoi Mining produced 1.7 million ounces, 4% more than in 2024. The company was preparing for an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, but delayed the listing in hopes of getting a higher valuation.
The top three is completed by Russian Olympics “Polyus”. Siberian giant reduced production by 6%, to 1.36 million ounces. This is explained by the peculiarities of processing complex sulfide ores in permafrost conditions.
On the fourth line – Kazakh Kazzinc. The figure increased by almost a third, to 947 thousand ounces. Glencore abandoned plans to sell a majority stake last year due to disagreements with Chinese buyers over price.
Gradberg in Indonesia fell from third to fifth place. There was a landslide there in September and the plant shut down. Production fell by half, to 937 thousand ounces. Freeport McMoRan has declared force majeure and plans to return to full capacity only by the end of 2027.
In sixth place is another Uzbek asset, Almalyk plant, with 750 thousand oz. It is interesting that the newcomer to the rating – Blagodatnoe field “Polya”. Due to the launch of the new M5 mill and richer ore production there grew up by almost 47%, exceeding 736 thousand ounces.
The top 10 also included Canadian Detour Lake (Agnico Eagle), Congolese Kibali and Ghanaian Ahafo. The latter showed a drop of 17% due to a planned decline associated with the transition to a new stage of development.
The most dramatic leap occurred at the Chilean mine Salares Norte Gold Fields Company. Production there increased 11 times to 505 thousand ounces. Lasts the rating Egyptian Sukari, where, after purchasing Centamin, AngloGold Ashanti increased production by a quarter.
Thus, record demand for gold spurred production, but geopolitics, accidents and internal conflicts seriously redrew the map of the world’s largest gold mining assets.
Source: mining.com
Image: Barrick Mining
