ARTICLE IN PRESS

Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56

www.elsevier.com/locate/resourpol

Global trends in gold mining: Towards quantifying environmental

and resource sustainability?
Gavin M. Mudd
Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Sustainable Water Resources, Monash University, Clayton, Vic. 3800, Australia
Received 11 January 2007; received in revised form 1 May 2007; accepted 29 May 2007

Abstract

In recent years, due to public concern over perceived and actual environmental impacts, the global mining industry has been moving
towards a more sustainable framework. For gold mining, there are a number of fundamental issues with regard to assessing
sustainability. Commonly perceived as a finite and non-renewable resource, long-term gold production trends include declining ore
grades and increasing solid wastes (tailings, waste rock) and open cut mining. Conversely, core sustainability issues include water, energy
and chemical consumption and pollutant emissions—also known as ‘resource intensity’. It is important to recognise the links between
gold production trends and resource intensity, as this is critical for understanding future sustainability challenges. This paper links data
sets on historic gold mining production trends with emerging sustainability reporting to estimate resource intensity, demonstrating the
sensitivity of ore grade for gold production and sustainability. Final judgement of the sustainability of gold mining must take account of
the sensitivity of the ore grade in the resource intensity of gold production. This has implications for environmental policy and
sustainability reporting in the gold mining sector.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

JEL classification: Q56; Q32; L72

Keywords: Gold mining; Resource intensity; Sustainable mining; Ore grade; Waste rock

Introduction report on their sustainability performance alongside their

The mining and production of gold is indeed an ancient
human tradition and presently occurs all over the world
(Butterman and Amey, 2005). The history of gold mining is
commonly associated with both positive and negative
social, political, economic and environmental impacts (e.g.
Ali, 2006; Corte and Coulston, 1998; Müezzinoğlu, 2003).
In recognition of these impacts, the industry has in recent
years been moving towards a more sustainable framework.
An important development has been the adoption of
recommendations in ‘Minerals Mining and Sustainable
Development’ report (IIED and WBCSD, 2002), presented
by the global mining industry at the Johannesburg Earth
Summit in 2002. Many mining companies have begun to
Tel.: +61 3 9905 1352; fax: +61 3 9905 4944.
E-mail address: Gavin.Mudd@eng.monash.edu.au
financial performance, based on company standards or
external guidelines such as the recently developed Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI, 2006). The application of
sustainable development concepts to mining remains
problematic, however, especially in the gold sector of the
global mining industry.
This paper compiles and analyses available sustainability
data on gold mining for Australia, North America, Africa
and the Asia-Pacific, including waste volumes, ore grades,
economic resources and resource intensity. The paper
presents a fundamental analysis of a major policy area—
that of environmental and resource sustainability—which
currently affects gold mining. It also provides a critical
basis to underpin further policy debate through real data
for life-cycle and sustainability assessments. Formal con-
sideration of the social aspects of sustainability related to
gold mining is beyond the scope of this paper.

0301-4207/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.resourpol.2007.05.002
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56
Sustainable development concepts for mining
The observation that mining has both positive and
negative impacts is not new—with significant treatises
dating back to Agricola (1556) and earlier. Following the
near-continual global mining boom since about 1960, there
has been a wide-ranging debate about the sustainability of
modern mining. This section presents a broad review of
this discussion with a summary relevant for gold mining in
the context of this paper.
The most common starting point for discussing sustain-
ability is the definition proposed by the 1987 World
Commission on Environment and Development (WCED,
or the ‘Brundtland Commission’), namely ‘to meet the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their needs’ (WCED, 1990).
Although this is a somewhat open definition (Hilson and
Basu, 2003), in the context of mining, this is generally
taken to include the availability of resources and a
productive environment and healthy community at both
current and former mining sites (e.g. Azapagic, 2004;
Cowell et al., 1999; Gordon et al., 2006; Yua et al., 2005).
The mining of a perceived ‘finite’ resource (i.e. mineral
resources are non-renewable) has been commonly argued
as intrinsically unsustainable, thereby reducing the ability
of future generations to supply that particular mineral. The
most cited study for this position is perhaps the 1972 Club
of Rome analysis ‘Limits to Growth’ (Meadows et al.,
1972), with numerous studies, reports and papers also
continuing the perceived non-renewable nature of mineral
resources (e.g. Bartlett, 2006; Whitmore, 2006; Young,
1992). Other commentators, including some from the
mining industry, have argued in response that economic
mineral resources are not a stationary, solitary figure, but
rather a function of prevailing economic, social and
environmental constraints (e.g. Hancock, 1993; Hore-Lacy,
1986; IIED & WBCSD, 2002; Tilton, 1996, 2003;
Trubetskoi et al., 2002; Yua et al., 2005; Eggert, 2006).
Despite the perception that mineral resources are finite,
there have been few systematic quantitative analyses of
known mineral resources that assess the factors affecting
known economic mineral resources and their potential
extraction. There are selected data available in national
mining industry periodicals (e.g. Geoscience Australia,
var.; Natural Resources Canada, var.; US Bureau of
Mines, var.; United States Geological Survey, var.a).
However, these are not complete, as they do not present
data for ore tonnage, ore grade, contained metal and
associated waste rock. For gold, Craig and Rimstidt
(1998) have provided a brief analysis of economic resources
for the world and the United States, although their
study does not include data on waste rock and tailings
(ore) from mining or the ore grade of economic gold
resources.
It is important to understand the nature of mineral
resources, since issues such as ore grades, impurities (e.g.
arsenic, mercury), waste rock, geological and mining
43
constraints, technological requirements as well environ-
mental issues such as water, chemicals, energy and
pollutants and socio-economic constraints are all critical
in determining whether a quantified mineral deposit is an
extractable, valuable resource. In Australia, this recogni-
tion of the broader context of ‘economic’ mineral resources
is embedded into the Joint Ore Reserves Code (JORC)
code for reporting economic mineral resources (AusIMM
et al., 2004; Stephenson, 2001).
The issue of ‘non-renewable’ mineral resources is critical
in the sustainability debate as it relates to present
generations meeting their needs for metals and minerals
while still allowing for future generations to provide for
their anticipated requirements (Cowell et al., 1999).
A major challenge in this regard is the evolving
environmental and social costs of extracting mineral
resources—especially, when compared to the equivalent
costs from secondary sources and processes. This begs the
question of whether future mining will cost more than at
present.
The environmental and social health of a region and
community as affected by mining—positively or nega-
tively—remains a contentious area for the sustainability
debate and the mining industry (Hancock, 1993), particu-
larly for the developing world (e.g. Ali, 2006; Kumah,
2006).
Historically, the mining industry has caused significant
environmental impacts through poor waste management,
lack of or poor rehabilitation, an emphasis on production
over environmental impacts, and so on. This in turn is
closely related to social impacts and challenges of varying
degrees of difficulty. Agricola (1556), a strong supporter of
mining and its contribution to society, documented this
dilemma eloquently in a regional and local context more
than 450 years ago.
The context for sustainable development for mining is
still essentially the same—balancing the potential environ-
mental and social risks with the economic risks. The
primary difference is now that the issue is of a truly global
scale and concern rather than Agricola’s locale of central
Europe. For gold mining in particular, some continue to
argue that there is net detriment or no net benefit from gold
mining (see Ali, 2006; Whitmore, 2006).
Since about the 1970s onwards in most countries
(especially developed nations with advanced mining
industries), new and existing mining projects have been
required to meet an array of environmental requirements
set by legislation, policy and statutory authorities which
emerged during this decade (e.g. an Environmental
Protection Agency or EPA). The mining industry accepted
the legitimacy of this changed landscape and worked to
improve industry standards and performance throughout
the 1970s–1980s, primarily to meet legal requirements but
also to ensure social acceptance of existing and future
mines (Hancock, 1993; Hore-Lacy, 1986; Mulligan, 1996).
The 1992 Rio Earth Summit focussed global attention
on sustainability, with public sentiment beginning to accept
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
44 G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56
the legitimacy of the need for sustainable development and
combined social, economic and environmental perfor-
mance (McAllister et al., 1999). Surprisingly, only a
handful of mining companies were pro-active in respond-
ing to this paradigm shift.
WMC Resources released an Australian mining com-
pany’s first ‘Environmental Progress’ report in 1995. As an
annual report of major prominence alongside its financial
reports, these incorporated social and community issues in
2000 and were subsequently expanded further and renamed
‘Sustainability’ in 2001 (see WMC, var.).1 In Canada,
companies such as Placer Dome followed a similar path,
releasing the first Sustainability report for their Asia-Pacific
operations in 1997, followed by an annual global opera-
tions Sustainability report from 1998 (Placer Dome, var.).
Both WMC, Placer Dome and other companies relied on
policies, performance measures and reporting procedures
developed internally—though broadly within the sustain-
ability framework of economic, social and environmental
performance. Over the past decade, there has been a rapid
increase in the publication of environmental or sustain-
ability reports (or notable sections in existing annual
reports) by mining companies, which outline their social,
economic and environmental performance either qualita-
tively or quantitatively or both (Byrne et al., 2002; van
Berkel and Bossilkov, 2004).
In the build-up towards the 2002 Johannesburg Earth
Summit (the ‘Rio+10’ follow-up), the global mining
industry established a broad process to examine mining,
sustainability and the performance of the industry. The
study, which was called the ‘Mining, Minerals and
Sustainable Development’ (MMSD) project (IIED &
WBCSD, 2002), was formally launched at Johannesburg.
The numerous MMSD reports included a principal report
and various regional reports and associated studies.
The MMSD project articulated a pivotal change in
approaching sustainability with a move away from arguing
individual mines may be sustainable, to the sector as a
whole contributing to sustainable development (IIED &
WBCSD, 2002). This distinction is of fundamental and
critical importance. The revised emphasis on ‘contributing
to sustainable development’ allows broader consideration
of a balance of social, economic and environmental facets
for the industry as whole. Thus, it is the sum of all
individual mines over time and space and their respective
resources, impacts and benefits, which should be consid-
ered in ascribing sustainability to mining. While individual
mine performance remains critical, a focus on the sector as
a whole is necessary to assess sustainability in a proper way
(Hilson, 2001).
Since about 1995, an increasing amount of research has
suggested sustainable development indicators relevant for
mining industry reporting (see Azapagic, 2004; Byrne et al.,
2002; Hilson and Basu, 2003; van Berkel and Bossilkov,
1
WMC was taken over by BHP Billiton Ltd. in 2005.
2004). These studies examine indicators such as jobs, water
usage, pollutant emissions, solid wastes, rehabilitation and
land use, energy source and consumption, and health and
safety. They provide a broader set of indicators than those
developed by companies such as WMC and Placer Dome.
These derived from the various principles for sustainability,
including the precautionary principle, inter- and intra-
generational equity, biodiversity, pollution minimisation
and maintenance of capital.
A broader initiative for sustainability reporting and
indicators is that of the Global Reporting Initiative
(GRI)—a coalition of the United Nations, industry,
government and civil society groups. Established in 1997,
the GRI released a draft reporting protocol in 1999,
launching the first edition in 2000 and the third edition in
October 2006 (GRI, 2006). The GRI aims to achieve
uniform and consistent reporting on sustainability perfor-
mance, allowing this to be as routine and comparable as
financial reporting. Increasing numbers of mining compa-
nies now report sustainability performance based on its
protocol. A specific mining sector supplement, released in
pilot form in 2005, facilitates improved and more relevant
sustainability reporting (GRI, 2005).
A principal benefit of the emerging regime is the
increasing abundance of data available to assess the
resources required for new mineral production. This allows
estimation of water, energy, chemicals requirements as well
as resultant wastes and pollutant emissions (e.g. tailings,
waste rock, carbon dioxide). This is termed ‘resource
intensity’ for the purposes of this paper (also known as
eco-efficiency; van Berkel, 2007). Access to these data is
critical for cleaner production and wholistic life-cycle
analyses, both of which are foundation tools for sustain-
ability assessments (e.g. Guerin, 2006; Norgate and
Rankin, 2002; Stewart and Petrie, 2006). For minerals
and metal mining (particularly gold mining), this is a
difficult challenge and gaps remain to facilitate more
informed assessment (Stewart et al., 2004; Stewart and
Petrie, 2006).
Predicting sustainability challenges associated with gold
mining also requires knowledge of historical production
trends as well as the relationship between mineral produc-
tion and resource intensity. As an example, one key
production trend which is reasonably well understood is
that of declining gold ore grades (e.g. Craig and Rimstidt,
1998; Müezzinoğlu, 2003). Despite the global scale and
reach of the modern mining industry, especially gold
mining, understanding of the links between production and
resource intensity is still limited, though it appears to be
improving.
Increasing availability of relevant data affords the
opportunity to quantify resource intensity for gold mining
and to link it to production performance reporting. These
relationships can then be used in the sustainability debate,
which surrounds gold mining. The remainder of this paper
compiles and analyses these data sets for global gold
mining.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56
Data sources
The various aspects of sustainability investigated in this
paper are assessed through the compilation of detailed data
on
 gold ore grade, production and waste volumes—
government series/periodicals on mining, recent com-
pany annual reports;
 energy, water and cyanide consumption and greenhouse
emissions (as carbon dioxide equivalents, CO2-e)—
recent company annual environmental/sustainability
reports; and
 economic gold ore resources—government series/peri-
odicals on mining, technical literature.
These aspects are of prime importance in understanding
environmental and resource sustainability (Dow and
Minns, 2004).
It is possible to obtain historical information on gold
production, prices and ore grades using the following data
sets:
 World gold production and price (US$)—1851–2005
(ABARE, var.; Govett and Harrowell, 1982; Kelly et al.,
2004);
 United States ore grade and production—1907–1993
(Craig and Rimstidt, 1998);
 South African ore grade and production—1893–2005
(Chamber of Mines South Africa, 2006);
 Australian ore grade and production—1859–2005
(Mudd, 2007);
 Canadian ore grade and production—1945–2004 (with
some gaps) (Natural Resources Canada, var.);
 Brazilian ore grade—1835–1994 (Machado and Figueir-
oa, 2001).
Less data are available on waste rock quantities for gold
mining. Natural Resources Canada (var.) reports informa-
tion for Canada for both underground and open cut mines
from 1980 to 2004. For Australia, Mudd (2007) has
collated data for individual mines to obtain a total estimate
of waste rock. Yet, many gold mines do not report these
data and so such estimates are incomplete. Data for other
countries are also based on individual mines taken from
company annual reports. It is presented as ratios of waste
rock to ore (tonnes waste rock/tonnes ore) as well as waste
rock totals per country—despite these totals for most
countries being incomplete.
A list of the companies used to compile data on resource
intensity appears in Table 1. All references are to the
respective company social/environmental or sustainability
reports. While it includes most major gold companies, it
does not capture all companies who report sustainability
performance. The companies listed represent a significant
portion of world gold production, and a broad geographic
spread of mines in Africa, North, Central and South
45
Table 1
Companies reporting sustainability data for gold mines (1991–2006)
Company
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.
Barrick Gold Corporation
Dominion Mining Ltd.
Emperor Mines Ltd.
Glamis Gold Ltd.
Gold Fields Ltd.
Goldcorp Inc.
Harmony Gold Ltd.
Homestake Mining Company
Kelian Equatorial Mining Ltd.
Kennecott Ltd. (incl. associates)
Leviathan Resources Ltd.
Lihir Gold Ltd.
Mt Isa Mines Ltd.
Newmont Mining Corporation
Normandy Mining Ltd.
Oxiana Ltd.
Perseverance Corporation Ltd.
Placer Dome Inc.
Placer Dome Asia Pacific Ltd.
Resolute Ltd.
Rio Tinto Ltd.
WMC Resources Ltd.
America, Australia and the Asia-Pacific. If energy data was
presented as fossil fuels only, this was converted to energy
and greenhouse emissions using Australian Greenhouse
Office (2005). In general, an increasing degree of relevant
sustainability data is being reported by mining companies
over time (with access facilitated through online resources
and archives). It is assumed that all sustainability data
reported is of high quality and therefore comparable.
Resource intensity is presented as unit consumption per
gold production (e.g. kL/kg Au, GJ/kg Au) with respect to
ore grade (g/t Au) as well as with unit consumption per
tonne of ore milled (e.g. kL/t ore, GJ/t ore) with respect to
mill throughput (Mt ore/year). Greenhouse emissions are
also presented in this fashion (e.g. t CO2-e/t ore, t CO2-e/
kg Au). In this way, the effects of both mine scale and ore
grade can be observed.
There are data available on economic gold resources for
many countries, although only data for countries such as
Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United States are
presented to correspond to the ore grade data included in
this paper (these countries are also major global produ-
cers). ‘Resources’ is the term used broadly, especially
environmental resources such as water. However, all data
for economic gold ‘resources’ are reported economic
reserves only—not ‘economic resources’ or ‘reserve base’
(see Geoscience Australia, var.; US Geological Survey,
var.a). Although there are some differences between the
methodologies for economic classification of mineral
resources between countries, the specific economic reserves
data presented are broadly comparable to assess relative
trends over time. The ratio of resources to production is
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
46 G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56

also calculated and presented. The sources used for South Africa in 1884 are evident. The development of new
economic gold resources are: cyanide milling technology (carbon-in-pulp) and the major
rise in the real price of gold in the 1970s led to expanded
 World: 1968, 1973–78 and 1987–95 (Craig and Rimstidt, production from 1980 onwards.
1998), 2000–2005 (Geoscience Australia, var.), also The supply and consumption of economic energy is often
corresponding to US Geological Survey (var.-a, var.-b); a key factor in the viability of gold mines, with diesel being
 United States: 1944, 1965, 1973–78 and 1987–2005 particularly important, though natural gas use is increas-
(Craig and Rimstidt, 1998; US Geological Survey, ing. The available data for energy consumption are shown
var.-a, var.-b); in Fig. 3, including a preliminary power regression of all
 South Africa: 1955 (British Commonwealth Global data points. Data over time are reported in Table 2.
Liaison Office, 1956), 1994–2005 (US Geological Sur- The availability of a suitable water supply is important
vey, var.-a, var.-b); for any mine, though water quality for gold mining is no
 Australia: 1955 (British Commonwealth Global Liaison longer as critical since the development of carbon-in-pulp
Office, 1956), 1960 (McLeod, 1998), 1975–2005 technology. This process can efficiently utilise hypersaline
(Geoscience Australia, var.); and waters (e.g. at many gold mines in Western Australia; see
 Canada: 1955 (British Commonwealth Global Liaison McCowan and White, 1993; Norgate and Lovel, 2006;
Office, 1956), 1977–2003 (Natural Resources Canada, Sparrow and Woodcock, 1993). As there is no consistency
var.). in reporting waters of various sources or quality, the data
are presented as total water consumption. There is
The compiled data allow the comparison of various presently little reporting of whether water comes from
drivers of sustainability in gold mining, including changes either fresh or recycled sources, or about various levels of
in the gold price, new discoveries, new technology, social water quality or salinity. The available data for water
disturbances (e.g. wars), as well as the way that water, consumption between 1991 and 2006 is shown in Fig. 4,
energy and reagent consumption and pollutant emissions including a preliminary power regression of all data points;
relate to these. averages are reported in Table 2.
Using cyanide in gold mining poses environmental risks
Results that need to be pro-actively managed (Logsdon et al., 1999;
Müezzinoğlu, 2003; Stenson, 2006). Several tailings dam
Details of world gold production over the past 150 years failures and cyanide transport accidents since 1995 have led
appear in Fig. 1. The details of gold ore grades for hard to increased public scrutiny (Kumah, 2006), although at
rock mining for the United States, Australia, South Africa, present there remains no effective alternative (Hilson and
Brazil and Canada are shown in Fig. 2. The prices of gold Monhemius, 2006; Muir and Aylmore, 2004). Many
in both dollars of the day and 1998 US dollars are also companies now publish sustainability reports, which give
plotted in Fig. 2. The effects of the California gold rush in details of water and energy data but few also include
1849, followed by the gold rushes in Australia in 1851 and cyanide use. The ‘International Cyanide Management

2,750
Rest of the World
2,500 United States
South Africa
2,250 Canada
Australia
2,000 Gold price rise.
Gold Production (t Au)

Carbon-in-pulp developed
major world expansion of gold mining Rest of
1,750 the World

1,500

1,250 United States - California

USA
1,000 Australia - Eastern States Australia -
Western Australia
South Africa
750 (Witwatersrand)

500
South Africa

250
Canada Australia
0
1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1890

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

Fig. 1. World gold production 1840–2005.

 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56 47

40 40
UNITED STATES AUSTRALIA
35 35

30 30

Gold Grade (g/t Au)

Gold Grade (g/t Au)

25 25

20 20

15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0
1830 1855 1880 1905 1930 1955 1980 2005 1830 1855 1880 1905 1930 1955 1980 2005

40 40
SOUTH AFRICA BRAZIL
35 35

30 30
Gold Grade (g/t Au)

Gold Grade (g/t Au)

25 25

20 20

15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0
1830 1855 1880 1905 1930 1955 1980 2005 1830 1855 1880 1905 1930 1955 1980 2005

40 40
Gold Price of the Day 1,200
CANADA
Real Price $1998 (USGS)
35 35
1,000
Gold Price (US$1000/kg Au)

30 30 Gold Price (US$/oz Au)

Gold Grade (g/t Au)

25 800
25

20 20 600

15 15
400
10 10

200
5 5

0 0 0
1830 1855 1880 1905 1930 1955 1980 2005 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000

Fig. 2. Average gold ore grade: the United States, Australia, South Africa, Brazil and Canada and gold price in dollars of the day and $US 1998 real price.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
48 G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56

Energy Consumption per Gold Produced (GJ/kg Au)

700
Central & South America - (0.64, 1.076) Africa
Asia-Pacific
Australia
600
Canada
Central & South America
United States
500

400

300

200

y = 156266x-0.2793
Canada - (82.4, 21.9)
100 R2 = 0.1493 & (77.1, 22.9)

0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Gold Grade (g/t Au)

3
Energy Consumption per t Ore Milled (GJ/t ore)

Africa - (0.98, 3.87) Africa

Asia-Pacific
Australia
2.5 Canada
Central & South America
United States
2

1.5

United States - (59.6, 0.042)

0.5 & (63.2, 0.038)
y = 141629x-0.4076
Central & South America
R2 = 0.2695 - (133.0, 0.054)

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Ore Milled (Mt/yr)

Fig. 3. Energy consumption in gold mining.

Code’ (ICMI, 2002) as well the more recent Global The quantity of waste rock associated with gold mining
Reporting Initiative Mining Supplement (GRI, 2005) are has increased dramatically since the late 1970s. This is due
voluntary and do not require compulsory reporting of to the use of large scale open cut mining, especially in
cyanide consumption. The available data for cyanide Western Australia, Nevada and elsewhere. There is no
consumption between 1992 and 2006 appear in Fig. 5, systematic reporting of waste rock produced, although
which also include a preliminary power regression of all some companies do publish details, together with ore
data points; average data are summarised in Table 2. mined and processed. The compiled data appear in Fig. 7.
Greenhouse emissions, primarily through fossil fuels use, They are the best available totals for Australia, Canada,
provide an environmental challenge for the mining industry United States and Papua New Guinea, and the ratio of
globally but this is particularly difficult for gold mining waste rock to ore (WR:O) for all mines compiled within
that involves large-scale open cut operations (Dow and this study.
Minns, 2004). As with water and energy, greenhouse The extent of economic gold resources is known for
emissions are presented as unit release per gold production some countries over time. In general only total metal is
with respect to ore grade as well as unit release per tonne of presented, with ore grade rarely presented with total metal
ore milled with respect to mill throughput, data between resources. The British Commonwealth Geological Liaison
1991 and 2006 are shown in Fig. 6; average data appear in Office (1956) published data for major gold-producing
Table 2. countries such as Canada, Australia and South Africa as
Table 2
Resource intensity of gold mining (1991–2006)

Year Water consumption (kL/kg Au) Greenhouse emissions (t CO2-e/kg Au) Energy consumption (GJ/kg Au) Cyanide consumption (kg CN/kg Au)

Average Standard deviation No. mines Average Standard deviation No. mines Average Standard deviation No. mines Average Standard deviation No. mines

1991 390 3 12.6 2 172 2

1992 335 3 13.4 2 175 2 456 1
1993 346 3 13.9 2 205 2 130 1
1994 323 3 10.7 2 162 2 223 1
1995 260 3 16.4 8.3 8 142 82 8 100 2
1996 224 118 4 15.6 9.2 10 120 58 10 80 80 4
1997 1579 2482 18 11.4 8.6 14 213 126 14 106 143 8
1998 1443 1846 29 10.3 6.9 19 193 135 20 114 183 8
1999 1368 1734 26 10.2 7.7 13 185 107 16 123 183 9
2000 1281 1733 27 10.6 6.5 19 169 88 20 90 210 6
2001 378 1266 29 12.2 10.1 33 130 93 33 140 213 18
2002 374 993 27 11.8 10.4 31 123 95 35 155 235 24
2003 426 1261 24 12.0 7.8 25 141 129 31 156 212 24
2004 725 1711 34 11.9 9.8 40 155 96 43 173 298 29
2005 398 309 56 12.1 12.5 41 130 147 59 159 238 52
2006 1783 776 22 3.7 30.2 4 187 68 22 117 123 22
Average 691 11.5 143 141

Year Water consumption (kL/t ore) Greenhouse emissions (kg CO2e/t ore) Energy consumption (GJ/t ore)

Average Standard deviation No. mines Average Standard deviation No. mines Average Standard deviation No. mines
ARTICLE IN PRESS

1991 1.14 3 36.7 2 0.533 2

1992 0.96 3 38.5 2 0.516 2
G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56

1993 1.02 3 40.9 2 0.577 2

1994 1.16 3 38.8 2 0.586 2
1995 1.17 3 26.0 21.6 8 0.213 0.136 8
1996 0.97 0.24 4 29.8 18.6 10 0.230 0.139 10
1997 2.82 6.27 18 25.2 17.7 14 0.471 0.630 14
1998 2.56 8.73 29 21.4 27.9 19 0.406 0.520 20
1999 2.67 7.42 26 18.5 34.8 13 0.440 0.388 16
2000 2.67 6.09 27 22.1 33.2 19 0.446 0.391 20
2001 0.77 0.95 28 26.3 40.8 31 0.280 0.434 32
2002 0.74 1.08 26 24.8 41.1 29 0.264 0.540 34
2003 0.74 2.10 24 21.5 46.5 25 0.265 0.747 31
2004 1.51 7.27 34 23.2 37.1 40 0.336 0.496 43
2005 0.72 1.51 56 23.6 38.3 41 0.336 0.562 59
2006 2.87 4.50 22 5.8 71.2 4 0.648 0.470 22

Average 1.42 21.7 0.311

49
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
50 G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56

Water Consumption per Gold Produced (kL/kg Au)

7,500
Africa
Asia-Pacific
Australia
6,000 Canada
Central & South America
United States

4,500

3,000

1,500

y = 550.08x-0.5613
Canada - (82.4, 51.6)
R2 = 0.1574
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Gold Grade (g/t Au)

9
Africa
Water Consumption per t Ore Milled (kL/tore)

Asia-Pacific
8 Australia
Canada
Central & South America
7
United States

2 United States - (59.6, 0.088)

& (63.2, 0.102)
y = 21.933x-0.2221 Central & South America
1 R2 = 0.0515 - (133.0, 0.026)

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Ore Milled (Mt/yr)

Fig. 4. Water consumption in gold mining.

well as several other minor producing countries. The policy implications for the environmental and resource
estimated gold ore grade for Canada, Australia and South sustainability of the sector.
Africa was about 7.15, 2.65 and 9.83 g/t Au, respectively
(including gold and base metal ores). For Australia, Gold mining production
Woodall (1990) estimated a gold ore grade of 1.85 g/t Au,
including gold and base metal ores, totalling 1644 t Au. The gold mining boom since the late 1970s has been
A more recent estimate suggests a resource ore grade of facilitated by the combination of a real price rise, the
about 1.1 g/t Au totalling 9277 t Au (based on data development of carbon-in-pulp (‘CIP’) milling technology,
compiled by the author; see Mudd, 2007). The data for and to a lesser extent the evolution in large-scale bulk
economic resources and the ratio of production to earth-moving vehicles and mining techniques.
resources are shown in Fig. 8. These factors led to more exploration, focused initially
on previous gold producing provinces, along with the
development of many new gold mines around the world.
Discussion These mines have often been based on open cut mining
techniques, which allow more complete extraction and
This paper compiles and presents data on critical aspects processing of all gold-mineralised ore. The economics of
of global gold mining, possibly for the first time. A number gold mining were radically re-defined during this period. It
of significant issues emerge from this with respect to its led to an extra-ordinary renaissance in some countries such

G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56
1,250
Cyanide Consumption per Gold Produced
1,000
(kg CN/kg Au)
750
500
250
0
0 2
Fig. 5. Cyanide consumption in gold mining.
as Australia (e.g. Close, 2002), the United States (Craig and
Rimstidt, 1998) and Canada for about 20 years. In South
Africa, by contrast, this pattern did not emerge, due to the
deep underground nature of their gold mines as well as
political and social issues.
From a global view, based on gold resources data
presented, there is only sufficient known economic
resources to sustain existing levels of newly mined
production for less than 20 years. The future extent of
economic resources and production is, of course, difficult
to predict but will continue to depend on exploration
effort, economics, social and environmental issues, tech-
nology as well as the recycling of the world gold stockpile.
Gold ore grade
There is a clear trend of declining ore grades in the
countries reviewed, namely Brazil, Australia, South Africa,
Canada and the United States. Although there is no similar
data set for the ore grade of the world’s economic
resources, the decline in the grade of ore milled seems a
reasonable reflection of the decline in the ore grade of
economic resources (comparing previous ore grade data for
resources with Fig. 2). Furthermore, the ore grades of most
data sets relate to yield or extraction only and do not reflect
the true assay of mined gold ore. In Australia, ore grade is
only based on true assay data from about 1980 onwards
with generally all data prior to this being yield only (Mudd,
2007). It is therefore not possible to assess the true
efficiency of gold extraction over an extended period.
Over the past 150 years, the remaining tailings from gold
mining are often easily re-processed to extract further gold
as economics and technology evolve. True ore grades in the
1800s and early 1900s are therefore likely to be consider-
ably higher than the data presented, giving a true decline of
ore grades, which is more rapid than that shown. The pace
ARTICLE IN PRESS
51
Africa
Asia-Pacific
Australia
Canada
Central & South America
United States
y = 332.03x-0.8725
R2 =0.5468
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Gold Grade (g/t Au)
of future decline in average ore grade is difficult to predict
but, based on existing operating mines and undeveloped
resources reported by numerous companies, it is likely to
continue to gradually decline, though perhaps at a slightly
slower pace than recent history.
Water consumption
For water consumption, there is considerable scatter in
both graphs in Fig. 4 (per gold grade and per ore milled).
This seems attributable to the varying complexity of gold
mines, such as local climate and water resources, metal-
lurgical differences between ores, the type and degree of
processing (e.g. gold produced as bullion or in an ore
concentrate, also heap leaching), the number of active
mines supported and their configuration (underground,
open cut). Adding to this complexity are issues of
water quality and the degree of water recycling (some
companies only report new or imported water used and
do not account for recycled water). Although modern
gold mining is a relatively well-understood industrial
enterprise, the demands for water vary according to site-
specific issues.
Despite this complex variability between mines, the data
in both graphs in Fig. 4 do suggest overall relationships (as
shown by their respective power regressions). Firstly,
higher grade gold mines (46 g/t Au) typically have a
very low water cost per gold produced while lower grade
mines (o2 g/t Au) generally have a somewhat higher
water cost per gold produced. Gold mines with a high
throughput are commonly low-grade projects, and water
use efficiency per tonne of ore milled is most likely due to
economies of scale. The total quantity of water consumed,
however, may still be very significant locally. There appear
to be no noticeable trends with respect to time (see
Table 2). Based on the combined average of all available
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
52 G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56

CO2-e Emissions per Gold Produced (tCO2-e/kg Au)

50
Central & South America - (0.64, 76.7)
Africa
Australia - (2.3, 64.3)
Asia-Pacific
Australia
40 Canada
Central &South America
United States

30

20

10
y =15.591x-0.4379
Canada - (82.4, 0.2)
R2 = 0.2248
& (77.1, 0.2)

0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Gold Grade (g/t Au)

200
CO2-e Emissions per t Ore Milled (kg CO2-e/t ore)

Africa
Asia-Pacific
Australia
160 Canada
Central &South America
United States

120

80

40
y = 6711.9x-0.3734
Central & South America
R2 = 0.2223 - (133.0, 3.6)

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Ore Milled (Mt/yr)

Fig. 6. Greenhouse emissions from gold mining.

data, gold mining typically requires about 1.42 kL/t ore or Cyanide consumption
about 691 kL/kg Au.
The extent of cyanide required to produce gold shows a
Energy consumption closer relationship to ore grade (Fig. 5), with a coefficient
of determination of 56.5%. The sensitivity of cyanide
Energy consumption shows a slightly lower degree of consumption per unit of gold produced relative to ore
scatter in both graphs in Fig. 3 compared to water, with the grade is clear—despite a mix of process plant types, heap
same general trends also apparent in each graph’s power leaching and different water qualities. For relatively high-
regression. High-grade mines use less energy per unit of grade mines 46 g/t Au), the cyanide cost is commonly
gold produced while high throughputs require less energy less than 100 kg CN/kg Au, while for lower grade mines
per tonne of ore milled. Site-specific differences in energy (o2 g/t Au), the cyanide cost increases rapidly as grade
sources between the gold mines analysed in this data set, declines, possibly reaching up to 1000 kg CN/kg Au or
such as natural gas, are the likely cause of the low more. The average ore grade in 1993 in the USA was
correlations. No real trends are apparent with respect to 1.14 g/t while in 2005 in Australia and South Africa it was
time in Table 2. Based on the combined average of all 1.94 and 4.7 g/t, respectively. These average country
available data, gold mining typically requires about grades are visible in their relative position in Fig. 5.
0.31 GJ/t ore or about 143 GJ/kg of gold produced. Cyanide consumption seems more likely to increase
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56 53

400 12
Australia Australia
Canada - Open Cut Canada - Open Cut
350 Canada - Underground Canada - Underground
United States 10 Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
300

Waste Rock:Ore Ratio

8
Waste Rock (Mt)
250

200 6

150
4

100

2
50

0 0 55
1895 1910 1925 1940 1955 1970 1985 2000 1895 1910 1925 1940 1955 1970 1985 2000

35
Africa
Asia-Pacific
Australia - OpenCut
30 Australia - Underground
Canada
Central & South America
25 United States
Waste Rock:Ore Ratio

20

15

10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Gold Ore Grade (g/t Au)

Fig. 7. Waste rock total (top left) and ratios (top right) over time for Australia and Canada; individual mine waste rock-to-ore ratios versus gold ore grade
by country (bottom). Note: For total waste rock, only Canada is reported as complete data while for Australia, the United States and Papua New Guinea,
no year represents complete waste rock data for the gold mining sector.

gradually in the medium term, pointing to the need for a reasonable correlation between unit greenhouse emis-
greater transparency and focus on cyanide management. sions per unit of gold produced and ore grade as well as
As noted previously, reporting of cyanide consumption unit emissions per tonne of ore milled (see Fig. 6). The
is not compulsory according to current reporting conven- point at which unit emissions increase rapidly is around
tions or codes. For example, the first gold mine certified 5 g/t of gold. It is unfortunate that a number of major gold
under the International Cyanide Management Code, the mines and companies do not report greenhouse emissions
Marigold mine in Nevada, USA, is majority controlled by in their sustainability reporting. Based on the combined
a company which does not report cyanide consumption at average of all available data, gold mining typically releases
their numerous mine sites. The quoted data for Marigold in about 21.7 kg CO2-e/t ore or about 11.5 t CO2-e/kg Au.
this paper was reported by the minority owner. To improve Although the high mass ratio of CO2-e to gold is due to
transparency in the gold mining sector and demonstrate the relatively small mass of gold produced, the primary
continuing evolution in sustainability performance, there is function of gold for jewellery leads to major ethical and
a strong case for reporting of cyanide. social issues in terms of accounting for the greenhouse
costs.
Greenhouse gas emissions
Waste rock
The release of greenhouse gas emissions is a major global
challenge (IPCC, 2007). The extensive use of fossil fuels in The lack of attention to waste rock in sustainability
gold mining, most commonly diesel, leads to significant reporting is also a major gap. Many mine sites globally
greenhouse emissions. As with cyanide and energy, there is have left a significant adverse legacy of environmental
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
54 G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56

60 120
World World
Australia Australia
Canada Canada
United States United States
50 South Africa 100 South Africa

Resources-Production Ratio (years)

Economic Resources (kt Au)

40 80

30 60

20 40

10 20

0 0
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Fig. 8. Economic gold resources over time (left) and resources–production ratio (right).

pollution due to acid mine drainage leaching from waste consequently their resources-production ratio. Yet, the US
rock dumps and piles. Due to this historic legacy significant and world resources–production ratio has gradually
regulatory and community attention has recently focussed declined as production has increased since 1980. In 2002,
on waste rock management, with increasing scrutiny from South African resources dropped dramatically following
exploration through to planning, operations, rehabilitation re-assessments (US Geological Survey, var.-a). Overall, the
and mine closure. The quantity of waste rock being mined resources data presented lend more weight to the industry
is at least three times the amount of ore milled in Australia view that economic mineral resources are a function of
(Mudd, 2007), about 1.5 times in Canada for both exploration, markets, technology and other factors, rather
underground and open cut mines (Natural Resources than supporting the ‘finite/non-renewable’ view. The future
Canada, var.), and is also at least three times the amount pattern of economic resources and the resources–produc-
of ore milled in the United States (see Fig. 7). tion ratio is difficult to predict. It will depend on continued
The understanding of various engineering approaches to exploration, operational performance, production levels,
waste rock rehabilitation to minimise acid mine drainage economics and market issues, technological innovation,
has evolved rapidly over the past two decades, but environmental and social issues.
questions remain over their long-term performance. As
shown in Fig. 7, waste rock-to-ore ratios are now Conclusion
commonly reaching between 2 and 10. When aggregate
country totals are examined, the scale of waste rock being This paper has compiled and presented broad-ranging
excavated and managed at present mines is much higher data on gold mining and production, with a principal focus
than previous gold mining, reinforcing the need to report on the key aspects of mineral resource sustainability and
on waste rock from gold mining to allow accurate environmental impacts associated with mining. This
assessments of long-term environmental risk (especially includes energy, water and cyanide consumption, waste
for life-cycle analysis). The lack of reporting of waste rock rock volumes and greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide) emis-
data suggests that the waste rock-acid mine drainage- sions relative to ore grade and ore throughput. There has
environmental legacy link is not being broadly made within been a long-term decline in gold ore grades with this
the gold mining sector. This situation needs to change principally linked to evolving prices, technology and gold
dramatically if key aspects of sustainability are to be better ore resources. The resource intensity of gold production,
quantified and managed. based on a comprehensive data set of global gold mining,
shows generally stable or declining levels of resource
Economic gold resources consumption of water, energy and cyanide and reduced
greenhouse emissions. As ore grades decline, unit resource
As gold production has increased, many producing cost or release increases. In terms of sustainability, given
countries have increased their reserves and resources and the long-term decline in ore grades, this points to the
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.M. Mudd / Resources Policy 32 (2007) 42–56
resource intensity of gold production beginning to increase
substantively in the near future—an aspect of the sustain-
ability of mining which has to be taken more explicitly into
account. These findings about the sustainability of gold
mining have implications for environmental policy and
sustainability reporting by the mining industry broadly,
but particularly for the gold sector.
Acknowledgements
This work is the author’s individual work based on
broad-ranging research and involvement in the environ-
mental aspects of mining. Many companies were very
helpful when asked for reports or data. Techa, Mineral
Policy Institute, deserves many thanks. Geoscience Aus-
tralia provided gold resources data electronically for
1975–2002. The editor is also thanked for his particular
thoroughness in processing this paper.
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