Precious Metals
April 24, 2025
1 min
Precious Metals
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Gold's allure is timeless, but where we find it has changed dramatically. Just 50 years ago, South Africa was the undisputed king, digging up nearly two-thirds of the world's gold. Watch the animation – you'll see South Africa's long reign.
But the gold map was about to be redrawn. As South Africa's deep mines became tougher and costlier, its dominance faded. China surged from a minor player to the world's top producer by 2007. Russia, Australia, Canada, the US, and nations across West Africa also rose to prominence.
The result? Gold production is no longer concentrated but spread across the globe. And thanks largely to new technologies unlocking tougher deposits, the total amount of gold mined worldwide has more than doubled compared to 50 years ago.
This animation captures that incredible 50-year shift. It’s a visual story of geology, technology, and economics reshaping the global quest for gold. What you see isn't just changing numbers, but a world transformed.
Source: ourworldindata.org and World Gold Council
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Gold Mines in West Africa: Two Billion Years in the Making
Gold Mines in West Africa: Two Billion Years in the Making
The nine West African countries with significant reported output produced about 15% of the world's mined gold in 2025, according to Metals Focus and World Gold Council data. Almost every mine on the map above was built in the past 25 years, and four more reached production in the last eighteen months: Lafigué in Côte d'Ivoire in June 2024, Kiaka in Burkina Faso in June 2025, Ahafo North in Ghana in October 2025 and Kiniero in Guinea in December 2025.
A Median New US Home Now Costs Less Than 100 Ounces of Gold
A Median New US Home Now Costs Less Than 100 Ounces of Gold
The US Census Bureau's July new-home report, released on August 25, put the median price of a newly built house at $393,800. HousingWire noted that was the lowest since July 2021. In dollars, the market has moved within a narrow band: the quarterly median has stayed between $408,500 and $435,400 since 2023.
Gold's Record Run Has Set Off a Wave of Mining Mergers
Gold's Record Run Has Set Off a Wave of Mining Mergers
Gold hit an all-time high of about US$5,595 an ounce in January 2026 before settling near US$4,000, still far above the levels of a few years ago. That combination, record prices followed by a stable, still-profitable pullback, has done something a straight rally rarely does: it has opened a merger window.
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Three Ancient Belts Carry Ghana's Gold, and Investment Keeps Flowing to Them
Three Ancient Belts Carry Ghana's Gold, and Investment Keeps Flowing to Them
In March 2026, one of Ghana's own mining companies said it would invest about $1.2 billion in its operations at the Tarkwa and Damang gold mines. Both sit on the Ashanti belt, one of three narrow bands of ancient rock that carry almost all of Ghana's gold.
