Top 7 Gold Miners “Peaked”?

Further to our last article on where gold comes from it is worth looking at where this sits in the context of their latest forecasts and current reserves.  The two tables below (courtesy of analyst Andy Hoffman) are fairly self explanatory, are sourced from each company’s latest reports, and paint a very clear picture of an industry in decline.

First let’s look at how they fared last year and their forecast production for 2015…

Beyond 2015, of the 2 largest producers, Barrick gave forward guidance that 2016 and 2017 production may be well lower than 2015 and Newmont that 2016 and 2017 will be essentially the same.  GoldCorps 2015 number is particularly interesting fresh after this comment (incl links to our previous articles on Peak Gold) from its CEO...

In terms of reserves, the following table paints a pretty ordinary picture also:

We’ve spoken at length before about “Peak Gold” where exploration is way down, new discoveries very few, and discovery to production times blowing out beyond 10 years (see link above for detail).  The tables above paint a clear picture of supply having peaked.  Throw in the strong demand, especially from the East and central banks, and you have a very compelling supply / demand investment equation.