London, 31 october 2013

New research indicates that responsible gold miners contributed more than $55bn to sustainable economic development in 2012.

Today the World Gold Council  releases a new research report, Responsible gold mining and value distribution, which demonstrates further the constructive role responsible gold mining plays in supporting sustainable socio-economic development, particularly in host nations.  In an industry first, member companies of the World Gold Council have collaborated to combine data which provides a comprehensive, country by country view on how value generated by the formal gold mining sector is distributed and how much of that value remains with host nations.  This data covers expenditure in 2012 and includes payments to suppliers, employees and governments.

Out of a total spend of US$55.6bn, US$35.2bn (63%) went to suppliers and US$8.3bn (15%) to wages. An additional US$8.4bn (15%) was paid to governments in taxes and US$3.4bn in payments to providers of capital (including dividends and interest). The study also found that more than 80% of that total spend (US$44.6bn) was made in the country of operation.

The report covers 28 countries and analyses data from 15 companies with over 220,000 employees and contractors. It provides a global quantitative assessment of the value distribution associated with gold mining and profiles some of the positive social and community development impacts made by gold mining companies. Download the full report here: www.gold.org/about_gold/sustainability/socio-economic/responsible_mining_value_distribution/

The research accounts for gold production of 804 tonnes, approximately 30% of mined gold in 2012. Of this, 468 tonnes was produced in non-OECD countries, demonstrating the importance of the gold mining sector to many developing countries.

This new study follows the recent release of an independent report by economists at PwC and commissioned by the World Gold Council on The direct economic impact of gold, which estimates the economic contribution of the entire gold industry at more than US$210 billion to global GDP in 2012. This study provides deeper insights into a major component of that work related to gold mining.  

Terry Heymann, Managing Director, Gold for Development at the World Gold Council said: “There is already a high level of transparency among responsible miners at an individual company level but until now, there has been no systematic attempt to build a comprehensive picture of the economic value created by gold mining companies collectively. This work provides deeper insight into the mine production component of the global gold industry value chain. Greater transparency can help interested parties better understand the sometimes complex economics of mining and ultimately contribute to better development impacts and outcomes.”

“Gold, produced in conformance with high safety, environmental and social standards, provides opportunities in the form of jobs, skills, improved infrastructure and tax revenues. But maximising the development potential of mining requires continued attention and discussion.”

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