Lista das 10 maiores empresas de mineração de ouro do mundo em 2019

Extração de ouro remains one of the world’s most vital industries, shaping economies and investment portfolios globally. In 2019, several companies dominated the sector with massive production volumes, strategic operations, and global influence—though their strengths varied across regions and business models. This article explores 10 of the most prominent gold mining companies in 2019, including industry titans like Barrick Gold, Newmont Mining, AngloGold Ashanti, and Polyus Gold. Whether you’re an investor assessing opportunities or just curious about the gold industry’s biggest players, this overview provides key insights into their operations, production, and market impact.

Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest gold mining company in the world. It was founded in 1983 by Peter Munk, headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
Barrick Gold is principally engaged in the production and sale of gold and copper, as well as exploration and mining development activities, and its gold exploitation, processamento de minerais, and beneficiation technology is at the forefront of the world. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (codename “NYSE”) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (codename “ABX”).

Main Mines and Their Distribution

Barrick has more than 100 gold mines spread across continents, Canada, the United States, Peru, Argentina, Australia, the Dominican Republic, and Papua New Guinea. Recently, Barrick agreed with Chinese mining giant Shandong Gold in an effort to retain its premier status.

Barrick’s main gold mines distribution map

There are currently five core mines: Cortez, Goldstrike, Lagunas Norte, Pueblo Viejo, and Veladero, about 70% of the gold production in 2018 came from these five core gold mining areas.

Description of Barrick’s main gold mines

Barrick Exploration Status

Barrick is committed to continually discovering and replacing assets and resources through search and selective acquisitions. Even in the years when the gold price was low, most companies were in a state of austerity, and the company was fully committed to discovering the Lagunas Norte deposit in Peru, which was one of the most important gold mine discoveries in the 1990s. The recent major discovery is the Kotz mine in Nevada (gold reserves of approximately 283 tons).

Barrick has been focusing on the exploration of Nevada minerals, one of the most stable places in the world, and it has strong control over the minerals in Nevada. In 2014, Barrick’s 50% budget was allocated to the Nevada exploration project, mainly for prospecting and exploration of the Goldrush project. In addition to this project, Barrick still has other development opportunities and projects in the vicinity of Nevada, including Kotz and the Goldstrike project, which helps companies overcome risk and adjust capital.

Founded in 1921 and listed in 1925, Newmont is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado. The company has approximately 30,000 employees, most of whom are in the United States, Australia, Ghana, Peru, and Suriname. Its operations are mainly in gold, copper, coal, oil, and natural gas. In February 2002, it acquired Canada’s Franco-Nevada and Australia’s Normandy. Newmont is a leader in the value creation industry and the only gold producer in the S&P 500.

Main Mines and Their Distribution

Atualmente, a Newmont tem mais de 40 projectos na América do Norte, América do Sul, Oceânia, Indonésia, África, Ásia e outras regiões.

Barrick’s main gold mines distribution map

Newmont Mining Corporation’s gold mines distribution yield

Newmont Exploration Status

In 2016, Newmont had proven and probable gold reserves of 1,942 tons, with a mining area of 59,000 km2. At present, three-quarters of the company’s gold reserves are concentrated in the United States and Australia. Through the drilling survey in Australia alone, has added 116t of gold reserves, especially the Tanami and Merian mines, which have increased by 40t and 17t respectively. The discovery of these high-quality gold ores has raised the average gold grade to 1.2×10-6.

Founded in 1944, AngloGold Ashanti is the third-largest gold mining company in the world, headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold producer, with 17 gold mines in 9 countries and exploration projects in gold production areas around the world. It has been listed on the New York, Johannesburg, Accra, London, Australia, Paris, and Brussels stock exchanges.

Main Mines and Their Distribution

AngloGold Ashanti’s mining projects are mainly distributed in Africa, Australia, and the Americas.

AngloGold Ashanti’s main gold mines distribution map

AngloGold Ashanti gold mines’ distribution yield

AngloGold Ashanti Exploration Status

From 2015 to 2016, the company invested a total of 1.79 million euros in exploration, increasing the amount of mineral resources by 283 tons, and produced 3.8 million ounces of gold in 2017. The value of AngloGold Ashanti’s assets is around $9.5 billion.

Goldcorp Inc. is a gold producer engaged in the trading, exploration, development, and acquisition of precious metals in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. Current operating is mainly in the sale of ouro, copper, and silver.

A Goldcorp Inc. foi originalmente criada em 31 de março de 1994, tendo posteriormente adquirido a Glamis Gold. A nova empresa resultante da fusão foi formalmente criada em 1 de dezembro de 2006.

A Goldcorp Inc. é um dos produtores de ouro de mais baixo custo e de mais rápido crescimento do mundo, com operações em todas as Américas. Com sede em Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadá, emprega mais de 15.000 pessoas em todo o mundo.

Main Mines and Their Distribution

The main mines of Goldcorp are located in Canada, the United States, and Latin America. The Red Lake mining area is located in the world’s brightest gold belt and is one of the highest-grade gold mines in the world. HGZ is the core producer of gold in the Red Lake mining area, with an average grade of 56.7×10-6, but it is expected that by 2020, the ore in the plateau mining area will be exhausted.

A Goldcorp Inc. está a avançar com a exploração de duas novas áreas mineiras, Cochenour e HG Young, que têm um grande potencial para se tornarem uma fonte de minério novo.

Goldcorp Inc.’s main gold mines distribution map

Goldcorp Inc. Exploration Status

Nos próximos cinco anos, a empresa planeia aumentar a sua produção de ouro e as suas reservas de ouro em 20%, reduzindo simultaneamente o custo por onça em 20%. Após anos de redução de custos, a indústria está a registar um declínio na produção de ouro e nas reservas de ouro e um possível aumento dos custos unitários.

In 2017, the company’s exploration and development made great progress, and the Cerro Negro, Silica Cap, and Bajo Negro projects have achieved encouraging results, and these projects continue to have new discoveries. The results obtained include gold-bearing ore bodies with a grade of 20.80×10-6 over 5.01m thick (Bajo Negro project, BDD-17006), and gold-bearing ore bodies with a grade of 4.75×10-6 and a thickness exceeding 5.16m (Silica Cap project, SCDD-17003).

Kinross Gold is headquartered in Canada with mines and projects in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ghana, Mauritania, Russia, and the United States, mainly engaged in gold mining, silver mining, exploration, extraction, processing, etc.
Cotada na Bolsa de Valores de Toronto (código: K) e na Bolsa de Valores de Nova Iorque (código: KGC).

In 2016, the company produced a total of 79t of gold, which refreshed the company’s production record. Despite the multifaceted challenges, the company’s operating performance in 2016 remained strong. With the increase in the price of gold, the company’s cash flow exceeded $1 billion, and its assets and liabilities performed well.

Main Mines and Their Distribution

The main gold mines are located in the Americas, West Africa, and Russia; their proven recoverable reserves are 863.4 million tons. The proportion of resource distribution is 12.5% in North America, 81.99% in South America, and in Russia. 0.22%, Africa 5.29%, mostly open-pit mines, and all are wholly-owned or absolutely controlled.

Kinross Gold’s main gold mines distribution map

Kinross Gold Exploration Status

Kinross Gold is stepping up its expansion of known mineralized belts, and the Kupor mining area has great potential. Drilling procedures have found obvious mineralization in certain areas. In the past few years, the company has taken many measures to promote key projects to extend mine life, maintain quality products, reduce costs and increase cash flow.

Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, Newcrest Mining Limited is the largest gold producer listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), one of the top 50 listed companies on the Australian Stock Exchange, and one of the world’s largest gold producers.

Main Mines and Their Distribution

Newcrest mines are mainly located in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Côte d’Ivoire. Current major businesses include Cadia Hill (New South Wales, Australia), Telfer (Western Australia), Gosowong (Halmahera Island, Indonesia), Lihir Island (New Ireland, Papua New Guinea), and Bonikro (Côte d’Ivoire).

Newcrest Mining Limited’s main gold mines distribution map

Newcrest Gold Exploration Status

Nos últimos 15 anos, a Newcrest descobriu vários depósitos de grande dimensão.

Newcrest is currently evaluating two major exploration areas in the provinces of Namosi and Papua New Guinea in Fiji. Its joint venture, Namosi, is conducting a survey of Namosi and Natasiri provinces about 30km south of Suva, which covers an area of approximately 724 km². The Golpe exploration project is located in the Mobori province of Papua New Guinea, expected to have a mineral resource of 737t of gold and 8.8 million tons. Copper and 1361t of silver.

Gold Fields is a world-renowned gold producer and a major player in gold resources in South Africa, Ghana, Australia, and Peru. Principally engaged in underground and surface gold and copper mining and related activities, including exploration, mining, processing, and smelting.
Em 2012, a Gold Fields criou uma nova empresa com sede na África do Sul e dividiu a sua subsidiária, a Sibanye Gold, que é propriedade da 100%.

Main Mines and Their Distribution

Gold Fields’ mines are primarily in Australia, South Africa, the Americas, and West Africa, and are mostly open-pit, all wholly or wholly owned.
Cerro Corona mine, located on the eastern slope of the western Sierra Mountains in northern Peru, has reserves totaling 37 t of gold and 208,800 tons of copper.
A Gold Fields tem as minas St Ives, Agnew, Darlot, Granny Smith e a Gruyere, propriedade da 50%, na Austrália, com um recurso de ouro de 439 toneladas e uma reserva de 164 toneladas.
A maior mina da África do Sul é a mina South Deep, uma das maiores minas de ouro do mundo, com um recurso de ouro de 1786 toneladas e uma reserva de 1057 toneladas.
In addition, Talca and Dama mines in West Africa, Gold Fields own 90% of the shares, and the remaining 10% are held by the Ghanaian government.

Gold Fields’ main gold mines distribution map

Gold Fields Exploration Status

A empresa tem vindo a aumentar o seu investimento na exploração ano após ano. O investimento na Austrália aumentou de US$68,1 milhões para US$89 milhões, e a profundidade total de perfuração aumentou de 617,14 km para 661,36 km.
A breakthrough was made in the exploration project at Ives and the Granny Smith mine.

Located in Moscow, Polyus is Russia’s largest gold producer and one of Kazakhstan’s largest metal producers, with gold production ranking among the top ten in the world, and has proven gold reserves of 1865t.

Polyus is mainly involved in the eastern Siberian region, which is rich in gold, and in some alluvial plains. In addition, it has mining rights or exploration rights for several gold mines in Kazakhstan, Romania, and Kyrgyzstan.

Main Mines and Their Distribution

Polyus main mines include the Olimpiada, Blagodatnoye, Titimukhta, Verninskoye, Alluvials, and Kuranakh mines. The Olimpiada mine is located in Russia’s largest gold mining area and is the company’s largest project. The mine started production in 1996 and currently accounts for more than one-third of the company’s total gold production. In 2015, it produced 21 tons of gold. The exploration work in the area shows that there is huge potential in the vicinity.

A mina Blagodatnoye fica a cerca de 25 km da mina Olimpiada. É a segunda maior mina da empresa e entrou em funcionamento em julho de 2010. É a maior fábrica de processamento de minério de ouro da Rússia.

IrPrincipais minas de ouro da Polyus

Polyus Exploration Status

The Polyus exploration mines are Chertovo Koryto, Panimba and Razdolinskaya, Nezhdaninskoye, and Bamskoye.
A mina Chertovo Koryto fica a cerca de 170 km da mina Verninskoye, localizada na cintura de ouro do sul da Sibéria, com uma previsão de recursos de ouro de 88t.
The Panimba and Razdolinskaya mines are located in the Krasnoyarsk region of eastern Siberia, with a gold resource (presumed) of 165t.
The Nezhdaninskoye mine is located in the Vihoyansk Mountains. A preliminary feasibility study report jointly developed by SNC-Lavalin, Gold Fields, and AB Global Mining has been submitted and is currently under review.
The Bamskoye mine is part of Nevachanskaya, located in the northern part of the Amur region bordering China, with a gold resource of 99t.

Sibanye Gold was once a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gold Fields, independently listed in 2013, and is focused on gold mining in South Africa. It currently owns and operates three open-pit gold mines and one underground gold mine in South Africa.

Main Mines and Their Distribution

Polyus Exploration Status

Em 2013, a Sibanye Gold e a Gold One International Ltd. celebraram um acordo através do qual a empresa adquiriu a propriedade das minas subterrâneas e a céu aberto de Cooke, em West Witwatersrand, e licitou uma participação de 100% na Witwatersrand United Resources Ltd.
Mais tarde, adquiriu a Aquarius Platinum Limited (Aquarius) em 2016 e adquiriu os activos de platina de Rustenburg à Amplats.
Em maio de 2017, entrou em vigor a aquisição da Stillwater Mining Company pela Sibanye Gold.
These acquisitions increase the annual gold production of Sibanye Gold, increase the operational flexibility, and provide a great opportunity to bring new blood into the Sibanye Gold company.

Ouro Harmonia has more than 60 years of history and is one of the world’s largest gold mining companies. It is the third-largest gold producer in South Africa and employs approximately 30,441 people in South Africa. The company is listed on the Johannesburg and New York Stock Exchanges.

A Harmony possui nove minas subterrâneas na África do Sul, uma mina a céu aberto e várias minas de superfície, bem como uma participação de 50% na empresa comum de exploração mineira Morobe, incluindo o projeto Gorp. Estas minas estão localizadas na mundialmente famosa Witwatersrand Basin e na Kraaipan Greenstone Belt.

Main Mines and Their Distribution

The main gold mines operated by Harmony include the Doornkop, Kusasalethu, Phakisa, Tshepong, Target, Hidden Valley, Kalgold, and Unisel mines, which together account for more than half of the company’s total production.

Harmony Gold Exploration Status

Harmony Gold’s exploration program is mainly in South Africa and Papua New Guinea, with a focus on discovering large and long-term gold and copper mines. In 2016, $29.9 million was invested in exploration in the Papua New Guinea region.

Conclusão

From Barrick Gold’s global reach to Harmony Gold’s deep-level mining expertise, each of these companies played a defining role in shaping the gold mining industry in 2019. This list highlights their contributions without ranking, recognizing that different metrics—whether production volume, profitability, or geographic influence—can determine success in various ways. As gold continues to be a cornerstone of global finance and industry, these companies will remain pivotal forces driving innovation and growth. Stay tuned for more analyses on gold market trends and emerging industry leaders!