Gold production in Russia increased by 21 percent

In the first 5 months of this year, the Russian gold mining industry has significantly increased production volumes compared to last year, according to the latest data.
Gold production in bullion increased by nearly 30 percent, said Sergei Kashuba, head of the Russian Union of Gold Producers. This despite the fact that for the full year, production is projected to decline by 5 percent from a record 254 tons in 2013.

Annual data suggests that gold production in Russia has grown by 40% over the past decade, surpassing the United States in 2013, making it the third largest producer after China and Australia. Worldwide shipments grew by 5.7% in Q1 2014 compared to Q1 2013. The former world champion South Africa's production fell to 174,000 tonnes last year, barely a third of the 580 tonnes mined in 1994, which was then a quarter of world production.

The rise in Russian supplies to the gold mining industry in early 2014 was largely driven by exits from secondary sources, Kashuba said. Gold production from scrap has more than doubled over the year. At the same time, the projected 5 percent drop for the current year is due to the delayed projects after the sharp drop in prices in 2013.

Gold prices in dollars lost 28% last year, the largest annual drop in 32 years. As a result, the largest Russian gold producers are still delaying the start of development of some potentially large deposits, as prices are expected to fall further.