An interest of mine since I’ve done gold assay work in the past; my home town is not too far from Boddington (#10) and the Super Pit (#7).
TOP 10 BIGGEST GOLD MINES
10. BODDINGTON MINE (AUSTRALIA)
The Boddington Gold Mine produced 741,000 ounces of gold in 2011. It also produces millions of pounds of copper.
This mine is owned mined by Normandy Mining, Acacia Resources and Newcrest Mining.
9. LAGUNAS NORTE (PERU)
Lagunas Norte is situated in Northern Peru and is owned by Barrick Gold Corp. It is also the second biggest gold mine in Peru.
Lagunas Norte produced 808,000 ounces of gold in 2010 the mining company is currently expanding the project which will boost the production of gold by 2016.
8. WEST WITS (SOUTH AFRICA)
The Western Wits consist of three mines: the Mponeng, the Savuka shafts and the Tautone Mine.
In 2011, the Western Wits produced 792,000 ounces of gold from which 244,000 ounces were produced from the Tautona mine.
The site is owned by AngloGold Ashanti.
7. THE SUPER PIT (AUSTRALIA)
The Super Pit gold mine is the main tourist attraction in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
This mine is the largest open pit gold mine in Australia. It produced 690,000 ounces of gold in 2009.
This mine is owned by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines Pty Ltd., a company owned by Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont.
6. VAAL RIVER (SOUTH AFRICA)
It is an underground gold operation owned by AngloGold Ashanti.
It consists of several underground mines including the Great Noligwa, Kopanang and Moab Khotsong shafts and produced 831,000 ounces of gold in 2011.
5. VELADERO (ARGENTINA)
The Veladero gold mine is the largest open pit gold mine in Argentina. It is also owned by Barrick Gold Corporation.
In 2009 Veladero produced 611,000 ounces of gold and it had an output of about 900,000 ounces of gold last year.
4. GOLDSTRIKE (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
Goldstrike is situated in Nevada, owned by Barrick Gold Corporation. Goldstrike consists of three mines – the Betze-Post open pit mine, the Meikle and the Rodeo underground gold mines.
Altogether they had an output of 1,088,000 ounces of gold in 2011.
3. YANACOCHA (PERU)
The Yancocha gold mine is the biggest gold mine in South America.
The Yanacocha consist of five open pit gold mines. It produced 1,293,000 ounces of gold in 2011.
It is owned by three companies: Newmont Mining Corporation, Buenaventura Group and IFC.
2. CORTEZ (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
The Cortez gold mine consists of several open pits and underground mines.
It is the second biggest gold mine in the world and the biggest in the North America by means of size and production.
It produced 1,421,000 ounces of gold in 2011 and has a proven reserve of 14.5 million ounces of gold. It is also owned by Barrick Gold Corporation.
The Cortez gold mine is also one of the oldest gold mines which is still in operation, since 1862.
1. GRASBERG MINE (INDONESIA)
The Grasberg mine is the biggest gold mine and the third biggest copper mine by means of size and production.
It is owned by Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (60%) and Rio Tinto (40%). It produced 1,444,000 ounces of gold in 2011. It is currently giving employment to about 20,000 people.
scybites 