Prospector Trails
Minerals/Precious metals
Gold is used as a store of value by central banks and investors, and in jewellery and electronics.
01 · Where it's mined
Mine output was about 3,300 t in 2025: China 380 t, Russia 310 t, Australia 280 t, Canada 200 t. Gold mining is the least concentrated mining sector we track (top three about 29%).
Mine production, Au content, 2025. Columns on the globe show each country's share.
02 · A century of output
03 · Where it goes
Precious metal ores and concentrates other than silver (incl. gold), 2024, by value
Arcs run from exporter to importer; thicker means more value. CEPII BACI reconciled trade data.
04 · What it's used for
Central-bank buying and investment drove the World Bank average price to about US$3,440/oz in 2025.
05 · Who calls it critical
Not listed as critical except in China's strategic list.
06 · Mines to know
Spikes mark mines with output in open data; height follows reported output. Where a public source says where a mine's product goes, an arc runs to that plant.
Every gold mine and project, by countryThe detail
Mine output was about 3,300 t in 2025: China 380 t, Russia 310 t, Australia 280 t, Canada 200 t. Gold mining is the least concentrated mining sector we track (top three about 29%).
Central-bank buying and investment drove the World Bank average price to about US$3,440/oz in 2025.
Not listed as critical except in China's strategic list.
In 2025, domestic gold mine production was estimated to be 160 tons; the value was estimated to be $17 billion, a 32% increase from the value in 2024. Gold was produced at more than 40 lode mines in 12 States, at several large placer mines in Alaska, and at numerous smaller placer mines (mostly in Alaska and in the Western States). Nevada was the leading gold-producing State, accounting for about 64% of total domestic production, followed by Alaska, which produced about 22% of domestic gold. About 7% of domestic gold was recovered as a byproduct of processing domestic base-metal ores, chiefly copper ores. The top 25 operations yielded about 94% of the mined gold produced in the United States. Commercial-grade gold was produced at approximately 16 refineries. A few dozen companies, out of several thousand companies and artisans, dominated the fabrication of gold into commercial products. U.S. jewelry manufacturing was heavily concentrated in the New York, NY, and Providence, RI, areas, with lesser concentrations in California, Florida, and Texas.
The estimated gold price in 2025 increased by 38% and reached a new record-high annual price compared with the previous record-high annual price in 2024. The Engelhard daily price for gold in 2025 fluctuated, increasing in the first and second quarters, decreasing at the beginning of the third quarter, and increasing into the beginning of the fourth quarter. In 2025, worldwide gold mine production was an estimated 3,300 tons compared with 3,280 tons in 2024. China, Russia, Australia, Canada, and the United States were the leading gold producers, in descending order of production, and together accounted for 41% of estimated global production in 2025. Estimated global gold consumption, excluding exchange-traded funds and other similar investments, was in jewelry, 40%; physical bars, 24%; central banks and other institutions, 21%; official coins and medals and imitation coins, 7%; electrical and electronics, 7%; and other, 1%. In the first 9 months of 2025, global consumption of gold in physical bars increased by 18%, electronics were unchanged, other industrial applications decreased by 4%, dentistry decreased by 8%, coins and medals decreased by 11%, and jewelry decreased by 20% compared with those in the first 9 months of 2024. During the first 9 months of 2025, gold holdings in central banks decreased by 13%, and global investments in gold-based exchange-traded funds and similar investments were 619 tons in the first 9 months of 2025, an increase by more than 25 times compared with the first 9 months of 2024. Total global consumption in the first 9 months of 2025 increased by 10% compared with that in the first 9 months of 2024.9
Base metals clad with gold alloys are widely used to economize on gold in electrical and electronic products and in jewelry; many of these products are continually redesigned to maintain high-utility standards with lower gold content. Generally, palladium, platinum, and silver may substitute for gold.
In 2025, an estimated 90 tons of new and old scrap was recycled, equivalent to about 60% of reported consumption. The domestic supply of gold from recycling was slightly higher compared with that in 2024.
An assessment of U.S. gold resources indicated 33,000 tons of gold—15,000 tons in identified and 18,000 tons in undiscovered resources.12 Nearly one-quarter of the gold in undiscovered resources was estimated to be contained in porphyry copper deposits. The gold resources in the United States, however, are only a small portion of global gold resources.