By Regardless of how the gold price is doing in any given year, the top gold-mining companies are always making moves.
Right now, the yellow metal is in the limelight — stimulated by increasing global inflation, geopolitical turmoil and recession fears, the price of gold has broken past the US$2,000 per ounce level multiple times in 2023.
Rising demand for gold alongside concerns over gold mine supply have pushed the metal to record highs in recent years, and market watchers are eyeing world’s top gold-mining companies to see how they respond to current market dynamics.
According to the most recent US Geological Survey data, gold production increased by approximately 2 percent in 2021, and by a mere 0.32 percent in 2022. China, Australia and Russia were the top three countries to produce gold last year.
But what were the top gold-mining companies by production in 2022? The list below was compiled by the team at Refinitiv, a leading financial markets data provider. Read on to find out which companies produced the most gold last year.
1. Newmont (TSX:NGT,NYSE:NEM)
Production: 185.3 MT
Newmont was the largest of the top gold-mining companies in 2022. The firm holds significant operations in North and South America, as well as Asia, Australia and Africa. Newmont produced 185.3 metric tons (MT) of gold in 2022.
In early 2019, the miner acquired Goldcorp in a US$10 billion deal; it followed that up by starting a joint venture with Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX,NYSE:GOLD) called Nevada Gold Mines; is 38.5 percent owned by Newmont and 61.5 percent owned by Barrick, which is also the operator. Considered the world’s biggest gold complex, Nevada Gold Mines was the top-producing gold operation in 2022 with output of 94.2 MT.
Newmont’s gold production guidance for 2023 is set at 5.7 million to 6.3 million ounces (161.59 to 178.6 MT).
2. Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX,NYSE:GOLD)
Production: 128.8 MT
Barrick Gold lands in second place on this list of top gold producers. The company has been active on the M&A front in the last five years — in addition to merging its Nevada assets with Newmont in 2019, the company closed its acquisition of Randgold Resources the prior year.
Nevada Gold Mines is not Barrick’s only asset that is a top-producing gold operation. The major gold company also holds the Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republican and the Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali, which produced 22.2 MT and 21.3 MT, respectively, of the yellow metal in 2022.
In its annual report for 2022, Barrick notes that its full-year gold production was slightly less than its stated guidance for the year, rising a little over 7 percent from the previous year’s level. The company has attributed this shortfall to lower production at Turquoise Ridge due to unplanned maintenance events, and at Hemlo due to the temporary water inflows that impacted mining productivity. Barrick has set its 2023 production guidance at 4.2 million to 4.6 million ounces (119.1 to 130.4 MT).
3 Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX:AEM,NYSE:AEM)
Production: 97.5 MT
Agnico Eagle Mines produced 97.5 MT of gold in 2022 to take the third spot on this top 10 gold companies list. The company has 11 operating mines in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico, including 100 percent ownership of two of the world’s top gold-producing mines — the Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec and the Detour Lake mine in Ontario — which it acquired from Yamana Gold (TSX:YRI,NYSE:AUY) in early 2023.
The Canadian gold miner achieved record annual production in 2022, and also increased its gold mineral reserves by 9 percent to 48.7 million ounces of gold (1.19 million MT grading 1.28 grams per MT gold). Its gold production for 2023 is expected to reach 3.24 million to 3.44 million ounces (91.8 to 97.5 MT). Based on its near-term expansion plans, Agnico Eagle is forecasting production levels of 3.4 million to 3.6 million ounces (96.4 to 102.05 MT) in 2025.
4. AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU,ASX:AGG)
Production: 85.3 MT
Coming in fourth on this top gold-mining companies list is AngloGold Ashanti, which produced 85.3 MT of gold in 2022. The South African company has nine gold operations in seven countries across three continents, as well as numerous exploration projects around the world. AngloGold’s Kibali gold mine (a joint venture with Barrick as the operator) in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the fifth largest gold mine in the world, having produced 23.3 MT of gold in 2022.
In 2022, the company increased its gold production by 11 percent over 2021, coming in at the top end of its guidance for the year. Its production guidance for 2023 is set at 2.45 million to 2.61 million ounces (69.46 to 74 MT).
5. Polyus (LSE:PLZL,MCX:PLZL)
Production: 79 MT
Polyus produced 79 MT of gold in 2022 to take fifth place among the top 10 gold-mining companies. It is the largest gold producer in Russia and holds the highest proven and probable gold reserves globally at more than 101 million ounces.
Polyus has six operating mines located in Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, including Olimpiada, which ranks as the world’s third largest gold mine by production. The company expects to produce approximately 2.8 million to 2.9 million ounces (79.37 to 82.21 MT) of gold in 2023.
6. Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI)
Production: 74.6 MT
Gold Fields comes in at number six for 2022 with gold production for the year totaling 74.6 MT. The company is a globally diversified gold producer with nine operating mines in Australia, Chile, Peru, West Africa and South Africa.
Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti recently joined forces to combine their Ghana exploration holdings and create what the companies claim will be Africa’s biggest gold mine. The joint venture has the potential to produce an annual average of 900,000 ounces (or 25.51 MT) of gold over the first five years.
The company’s production guidance for 2023 is in the range of 2.25 million to 2.3 million ounces (63.79 to 65.2 MT). This figure excludes production from Gold Fields’ Asanko joint venture in Ghana.
7. Kinross Gold (TSX:K,NYSE:KGC)
Production: 68.4 MT
Kinross Gold has six mining operations across the Americas (Brazil, Chile, Canada and the US) and East Africa (Mauritania). Its largest producing mines are the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania and the Paracatu gold mine in Brazil.
In 2022, Kinross produced 68.4 MT of gold, which was a 35 percent year-on-year increase from its 2021 production level. The company attributed this increase to the restart and ramp-up of production at the La Coipa mine in Chile, as well as to higher production at Tasiast after the resumption of milling operations that were temporarily suspended in the prior year.
8. Newcrest Mining (TSX:NCM,ASX:NCM)
Production: 67.3 MT
Newcrest Mining produced 67.3 MT of gold in 2022. The Australian company operates a total of five mines across Australia, Papua New Guinea and Canada. Its Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea is the world’s seventh largest gold mine by production.
According to Newcrest, it has one of the largest group gold ore reserves in the world. With an estimated 52 million ounces of gold ore reserves, its reserve life is approximately 27 years. The number one gold-producing company on this list, Newmont, made a proposal to combine with Newcrest in February; the deal closed successfully in November.
9. Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)
Production: 56.3 MT
Better known for its copper production, Freeport-McMoRan produced 56.3 MT of gold in 2022. The vast majority of that production originates from the company’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia, which ranks as the world’s second largest gold mine by production.
In its Q3 results for this year, Freeport-McMoRan states that long-term mine development activities are underway at Grasberg’s Kucing Liar deposit. The company anticipates that the deposit will ultimately produce more than 6 billion pounds of copper and 6 million ounces of gold (or 170.1 MT) between 2028 and the end of 2041.
10. Zijin Mining Group (SHA:601899)
Production: 55.9 MT
Zijin Mining Group rounds out this top 10 gold companies list with production of 55.9 MT of gold in 2022. The company’s diverse metals portfolio includes seven gold-producing assets in China, and several others in gold-rich jurisdictions such as Papua New Guinea and Australia.
In 2023, Zijin presented its revised three year plan through 2025, as well as its 2030 development goals, one of which is to move up the ranks to become a top three to five producer of gold and copper.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.