Australia is estimated to have the world’s largest gold reserves, with 9,500 tonnes (17 per cent) of total global reserves. Geoscience Australia estimates 60 per cent of Australia’s reserves are in Western Australia.

Thanks to medicine, the expression ‘heart of gold’ is a literal reality, with some pacemakers coated in gold. Why gold? Well, gold is non-reactive and highly reliable in electronic equipment and life-support devices.

Thanks to medicine, the expression ‘heart of gold’ is a literal reality, with some pacemakers coated in gold. Why gold? Well, gold is non-reactive and highly reliable in electronic equipment and life-support devices.

Gold Mines In WA

The gold sector is WA’s second most valuable mineral commodity. Sales volumes increased for the third consecutive year, reaching a record 212 tonnes in 2017–18. Increased volumes, combined with some improvement in prices, delivered a 5 per cent increase in the production value of the sector, from $10.9 to $11.4 billion in 2017–18.

Future gold production is heavily reliant on exploration – an extremely costly and high-risk exercise, requiring numerous lengthy approval processes before companies even start construction.

There have been no major gold deposit discoveries in Australia for a number of years and there is little new supply in the pipeline to replace diminishing reserves. The delay between discovery and development for a new gold mine is 13 years, which is why WA’s gold sector continues to invest a significant amount of funds into exploration. Between 2016-2018, its investment in exploration totalled more than $1.6 billion.

*Sources: World Gold Council, DMIRS.