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Gold mine exploration |
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Gold mining |
Gold mining and exploration companies
Kingsgate Consolidated Limited is an Australian gold mining and
exploration company operating a modern gold mine and developing mineral
resources in Thailand. Kingsgate Consolidated Limited (Kingsgate) is a
highly successful gold mining and exploration company, traded on the
Australian Stock Exchange (KCN: ASX). The company owns and operates the low
cost Chatree gold mine in central Thailand through its wholly-owned
subsidiary, Akara mining limited, using world's best practice for safe,
environmental and socially responsible operations.
Globally, world gold production exceeded 2478 metric tons, or 79.667
million troy ounces in 2004.
As of 2006, the country producing the most gold was South Africa with 11.1%,
followed by the USA (10.5%), Australia (10.2%), China (9.7%), Peru (8.2%),
Indonesia (6.8%), Russia (6.2%), Canada (4.2%), Papau New Guinea (2.7%), and
Ghana 63.1mt (2.6%).
The world's deepest
gold mine
is currently the Savuka mine on the north-west rim of the Witwatersrand
Basin in South Africa. This operation mines to a depth of 3,777m. Savuka
yielded 5.68g/t in the fourth quarter of 2002. The Grasberg mine in
Indonesia is the world's largest gold producer, while Newmont's Yanacocha
mine in Peru is the second largest in the world, 14,000 feet above sea level
in the Andes. At the other end of the scale, there are a myriad of very
small miners operating as one-man bands, panning for alluvial
gold or working shallow outcrops in many parts of Africa, Latin America and
Asia, and finding perhaps only a few ounces in any one year.
Information about gold
Gold has been known and highly-valued since prehistoric times. It may
have been the first metal used by humans and was valued for ornamentation
and rituals. Although the price of some metals can be much higher, gold has
long been considered the most desirable of precious metals, and its value
has been used as the standard for many currencies in history. Gold has been
used as a symbol for purity, value, royalty, and particularly roles that
combine these properties.
Gold in antiquity was relatively easy to obtain geologically; however, 75%
of all gold ever produced has been extracted since 1910.
Gold's great virtues of malleability, ductility, reflectivity, resistance to
corrosion and unparalleled ability as a thermal and electrical conductor
mean it is used in a wide variety of industrial applications consuming close
to 300 tonnes annually. At the end of 2001, it is estimated that all the
gold ever mined amounts to about 145,000 tons.
Several gold rushes took place throughout the 19th century in Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United
States. Gold rushes helped spur permanent non-indigenous settlement of new
regions and define a significant part of the culture of the North American
and Australian frontiers. As well, at a time when money was based on gold,
the newly-mined gold provided economic stimulus far beyond the gold fields.
Kingsgate's rapidly growing reserve/resource position is fuelled by
exploration within a surrounding gold province which exhibits world class
potential. Click here for more information on our products and services...
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