Gold for Australia stretches beyond Commonwealth Games

AUSTRALIA’s 80 gold medal-winning performances at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games are "set to be matched by a growth in the value of Australian gold exports" Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane has predicted.

“The projections are for Australian gold exports to reach $19 billion in 2019-20," Mr Macfarlane said. "During the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, our athletes have ensured we have kept most of the gold medals here in Australia. 

"The growth in jewellery, that accounts for almost half of global use of gold, is helping to drive growth,” he said.

Evolution Mining executive chairman Jake Klein backed up that prediction.

"Evolution is delighted to see so many elite athletes striving for and achieving gold at Queensland’s Commonwealth Games," Mr Klein said.

"Gold is awarded for the pinnacle of sporting achievement and, as Queensland’s largest gold producer, we have 700 Queenslanders across our sites striving to produce around 400,000 ounces of Queensland gold this year.”

In terms of the Queensland Resources Council’s Value of Production Index, gold is a positive contributor to the strong growth in resources to the Queensland economy.

“The Production Index has increased by $2.5 billion - or 17 percent - over the previous quarter," Mr Macfarlane said.

"We are also seeing growth in zinc, copper, lead, aluminium, gold and silver."

Mr Macfarlane said the Queensland resources sector provides one in every $6 in the Queensland economy, sustains one in eight Queensland jobs, and supports more than 16,400 businesses across the state "all from 0.1 percent of Queensland’s land mass".

Link to the Office of the Queensland Chief Economist report on gold.

www.qrc.org.au

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