The History Of Gold Production
Gold has been around for hundreds and even thousands of years as seen with the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. It was used by the Aztecs and Ancient Egyptians many years ago, and has been popular in societies around the world ever since. However, the biggest change in the production of gold came in 1848, with the California gold rush. Up until this point, there are many calculations that suggest that only 10,000 tons of gold had been excavated in the entire world, which means that over 90% of the gold in the world has been produced in the last two centuries.
The discovery of gold on the American River, at what became known as Sutter’s Mill, is a large turning point in the history of gold production. After that, gold became the name of the game for the entire world, and in 1886, South Africa discovered gold in the Witwatersrand Basin, which completely knocked the U.S. out of the top spot by 1898, and they have remained there ever since. The difference of the gold found in the Basin is that it is made up of huge gold reefs, and not just little bits of gold here and there in big rocks, caverns, and other large earthen pieces.
Since 1884, South Africa has been responsible for producing about 40% of the gold in the world. They have had many ups and downs, but experienced a great year in 1970, when they mined more than 1,000 tons of gold. Australian gold mining became popular in 1893, and since that time there has been more than 1,300 tons of gold found in Kalgoorilie, Western Australia, in an area known as the ‘Golden Mile’.
In 1896, Canada’s Yukon territories were found to hold gold as well, causing the Klondike gold rush of that era. Upon entering the 20th century, the world was producing more than 400 tons of gold each year.
Gold mining tapered off for a few years and was declining in many different countries. In the 50’s, there was another spike in gold prices, and then it tapered off once again until the late 20th century. In 1980, the price of gold skyrocketed, which caused the reopening of old mines and the desire to explore new sites. Since that time, gold production has increased rapidly, and the price of gold has remained on a fairly steady incline.
The huge period of growth and exponential production of gold has basically calmed down through the past few years, but should remain stable for many years to come because the world still needs lots of gold.