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People have been mining for gold for thousands of years. Today, almost every continent in the world except Antarctica is continuing to mine for gold and the complexity of these operations ranges from a small simple mine to massive complex operations that extend miles beneath the surface and producers billions of troy ounces a year.
 
Gold mining consists of the processes and techniques employed in the removal of gold from the ground.
 
The Top three producers in the gold mining world are South Africa, United States and Australia and accounts for about 36% of the worlds Gold production. Peru, Canada, China and Russia are also large producers of gold.
 
Explorations for new gold mine productions are going on in places such as Ghana, Chile and Peru.

Gold mines, today and always, have always meant big business. This is because gold is one of the precious metals. Its rarity has awarded it this position, and like all things that are rare, it is in high demand. It is not only used in jewellery manufacturing industries for its bright yellow luster and evasion to corrosion, but many other industries make use of the properties of gold today. It is a great conductor of heat and electricity, and therefore, it is used in electronics, industry and machinery. The fact that it does not corrode allows it to be used in dentistry.
With so many different uses for gold, there can never really be enough of it. Pure gold occurs usually as a solid in nature, and is sometimes found combined with silver.

Gold is an important commodity because of how precious and flexible it is, more so than other metals. Pure gold can be transformed into any shape desired, and, in addition to its bright yellow colour and high lustre, this is what makes gold popular in the manufacture of jewellery and ornaments. Gold does not corrode and is a good conductor of electricity, so that its uses are now more varied and it is used in electronics and dentistry.
There isn’t any definitive evidence on how and when gold reserves were first discovered, although history suggests that gold certainly existed during medieval Egypt. However, the first time that gold was discovered in large quantities was during the 19th century.

The World Gold Council is an affiliation to the leading producers of gold in the world. Its aim is to promote gold in the market. The Gold World Council is considered an organization of non-profit of the leading gold producers. It promotes the many uses of gold. The headquarters is situated in Geneva. The Council carries representation of many countries and is connected by a network of major offices to represent the demand in gold and its various activities promoting old. The market representing promotional activities covers gold’s annual consumption of nearly three quarters.
 
There is a close partnership and relationship between the World Gold Council and its associates. It is thorough this partnership that trading in local gold is carried out.

Gold occurs in earth in the form of ores. It is generally found uncombined with any other elements, but it still needs purification in order to be developed. Not only is this metal found in small amounts, but its extraction costs large amounts of money, which makes obtaining precious metals a very precious process.
Gold, with its bright yellow, lustrous appearance, looks ideal for making jewellery. But it is too soft and malleable to withstand the pressure from every day use as jewellery. It is therefore alloyed, or combined, with other metals such as copper, zinc, nickel, or another precious metal to increase its hardness. Gold itself does not corrode, which is another reason it is used so extensively in jewellery.

Canada leads in the gold industry right after USA, South Africa and Australia. Canada has 330 mines and produces 140,529 kilos of gold and has 90 percent of production rate. Some reserves have been exhausted in recent times and mines have closed down as a result of low pricing. The rest of Canada’s production has come from base metals and placer mines. Nine gold mines have closed in the year of 2002 and thirty mines remain in Canada.  The operations in Canada have decreased with closure of gold mines. Production cost in Canada in the one of the lowest and 90 percent of mining operations are underground where there is a relatively high productivity rate. A few mining companies are producing gold which includes Barrick, Placer Gold and TVX Newmont Americas.

Canada is known as one of the most productive gold mining countries in the world surpassed only by the USA, Australia and South Africa. In 2003 Canada consisted of 330 gold mines that produced 140,529 kg of gold. These mines were responsible for 90% of production. Many of the gold mines in Canada have shut down due to the low price of gold. Production occurred from base metal products and other placer workings.
 
In 1992, there were over 50 gold mines in Canada but ten years later only 30 mines remained in Canada. Over the past two years, nine mining sites have shut down. This reduction in the number of gold mining productions is expected to continue in the coming years. Between 8 to10 mines were closed by 2005 when Canada’s economic reserves reduced.

Though not a very widely known fact and perhaps not even much highlighted by the geography books, Canada is home to one of the worlds’ most prolific gold and base metal regions internationally. This area is known as Abitibi and is found in north-western Quebec. Interestingly this enviable location was in fact where gold was first discovered in Canada in the year1823.
 

A booming industry in Canada currently and during the past hundred years at least, mining, and particularly gold mining revenues account for approximately four percent of Canada’s GDP, and is responsible for supporting the 600,000 plus number of people on its payroll.
 
This might not be a much highlighted or well known fact, but Canada has an official rating of number four in rank, sitting amongst the world’s elite gold producing nations. Figures stand at the country having more than 30 fully operational and productive gold mines as at date.

These enterprises are known to produce a vast percentage of the demand for gold globally and most importantly at some of the lowest prices internationally.

The rarity and the physical characteristics of Gold are the main reasons of the value of Gold being so precious. This is so, because it does not rust or oxidize and is an excellent conductor of electricity.
 
There is no need to process gold very much when it is found as it is non -corrosive and untarnished, appearing where ever it is found in its pure form, usually evenly distributed deeply embedded in rock, making it a hard to retrieve mineral.
 
The presence of gold is known to be found in all parts of the world contrary to all beliefs and can even be found in small quantities as part of volcanic activity
 
South Africa being the largest gold producer in the world is famous for its gold coins called the Kruger Rand.

South Africa is one of the world leaders in gold mining with the largest gold resources in the world found in the area of the Witwatersrand. The capital Johannesburg is also known as the “City Of Gold” and is referred to as “Eggoli” Mining for gold started in South Africa a few years after the first diamonds were found and in 1887 Johannesburg found new settlers filling up to mine the gold. There were very rich results and the Rand mines were notably the richest. The diamond millionaires of Kimberly quickly moved into Johannesburg making it their headquarters. This brought about Johannesburg growing to be an important and the largest city in the whole of South Africa.

It was with Erasmus Jacobs’s mining discovery of a diamond in 1867, along the Orange River banks that mining started on a large scale and brought in enormous profits to South Africa. This was followed by a discovery along Kimberley pipes thereafter. Gold rushes were found in Barberton and Pilgrim’s Rest, Main Reef and in 1886 the biggest gold filed was discovered in Witwatersrand. This gold rush brought in thousands of foreign nationals to start living in the area. This caused a tensed political situation which eventually resulted in the 1899 Second Boer War. The ownership of the gold mines were transferred to the Europeans of that time known as Randlords.
 
South Africa still remains at the world number two spot in the gold industry. It is filled with mineral riches.

Africa being a major producer of Gold in the world accounts for about 30% of the total market playing a large part towards this contribution but it’s not likely that they will be leaders for too long and the numbers are not expected to increase either. Their production cost is the highest in the world with the industry having to deal with issues of Labor and lowering of grades. Another contributing factor is several mines being redundant.
 
Although Zimbabwe had played a prominent role as a major producer of gold in Africa, its current political scenario and accompanying economic climate is not conducive to the industry’s producers to carry on. The latest entrants to the industry in the African continent are Mali and Tanzania.

Africa accounts for about 30% of the gold production in the world. It’s shared among South Africa 56%, Ghana 13%, Tanzania 10% and Mali 8%.
These mining activities in Africa are being increasingly popular with Canadian companies who are really interested in the mineral explorations in the continent.
 
Tanzania is increasingly becoming a leading gold producer in the  African continent. It’s now known to be the third largest producer in Africa as shown in the statistics above, and new laws have been designed by the government to encourage foreign investment.
 
Although, in the past, most of the large gold mining operations in Africa have generated profits mostly for foreign companies very little was given to local benefit.

Europe is not one of the major producers of metals, relative to other continents. However, Europe does house some of the world’s most prestigious and well known mining companies. Some examples are Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
Most of the gold and base metals that Europe produces is from Spain, Turkey, Portugal, Sweden, Romania, Ireland and Finland. Cyprus is best known for its base metal deposits found in Troodos. Turkey has shown great potential for gold as well as base metal deposits and is already well established as a producer of chromite. Europe is a major producer of coal, and Germany and Poland are mainly responsible for this production. 
Mining equipment in Europe is needed according to the types of mines being operated.