Saturday, November 14, 2009

Barrick Confirms that We Have Peak Gold

As I pointed out in September, there are strong arguments that we have "peak gold" - in other words, that the relatively easy-to-reach gold supplies are gone, and so supplies are getting more and more expensive to locate and extract.

Now, the world's biggest gold producer - Barrick - is saying the same thing:

Aaron Regent, president of the Canadian gold giant [Barrick], said that global output has been falling by roughly 1m ounces a year since the start of the decade. Total mine supply has dropped by 10pc as ore quality erodes, implying that the roaring bull market of the last eight years may have further to run.

"There is a strong case to be made that we are already at 'peak gold'," he told The Daily Telegraph at the RBC's annual gold conference in London.

"Production peaked around 2000 and it has been in decline ever since, and we forecast that decline to continue. It is increasingly difficult to find ore," he said.

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