Economic value of gold mining fell 16% on 2013 price slide

By Kevin Crowley

Mine workers are pictured at the Freda Rebecca gold mine in Bindura town February 7, 2015. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo
REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

(Bloomberg) – Gold mining’s economic value worldwide sank 16 percent in 2013 as prices tumbled by the most on record, according to an industry lobby for the precious metal.

Gross value added, a gauge of the industry’s activity, was $83.1 billion in 2013, or $171.6 billion including the value of goods and services from outside businesses such as suppliers, the World Gold Council said in a report published Wednesday.

Gold mining’s economic contribution is up almost seven-fold since 2000 as output and the value of the metal climbed. Prices increased to a peak of $1,900 an ounce in 2011 from $272 an ounce at the end of 2000. Gold was $1,193 an ounce at 3:55 p.m. in Johannesburg on Tuesday. It dropped 28 percent in 2013.

Almost 60 percent of payments by gold mining companies to governments come in the form of income and corporation taxes, while a further 15 percent are royalties, the report said.

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