The golden rule: Russia’s gold production sees year-on-year surge of 13%

Gold output in Russia increased by 12.6 percent from January through March this year compared with the same period a year ago, according to the country’s ministry of finance.

Production in the first quarter of the current year reportedly totaled 58.12 tons, up from 51.61 tons in 2018.

Production for the period included 45.95 tons of mined gold compared with 39.78 tons a year ago, the ministry reported. Accompanying mining totaled 4.32 tons, marking a 21 percent year-over-year surge, while secondary mining shrank by five percent to 7.85 tons.

At the same time, production of mined silver amounted to 223.28 tons, fixing a decline of 11 percent.

Russia is currently third in the global rating of gold miners after Australia and China. The Russian gold mining sector has nearly doubled its volume of extraction over the last two decades. The world’s largest country accounts for more than 83 percent of the European gold output. Russian miners are reportedly planning to increase gold production to 400 tons by 2030.

The Svetloye mine, operated by Russian precious metals mining corporation Polymetal, is ranked number one among the world’s lowest cost gold mines. The precious metal mined in the field that is located in the country's Far East cost $425 per ounce as of 2018.

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