| NEWS
RELEASE
Latin America's
Gold Rush
New
Report Underscores A Regional Success Story
For
immediate release:
NEW YORK - Gold production is making a growing contribution to the economic
development of many Latin American countries, and has the potential to
make a much bigger contribution in future. These are among the findings
of a report entitled The New El Dorado: The importance of gold mining
to Latin America, published by the World Gold Council. It documents
the results of the most comprehenmsive analysys yet undertaken of the
economic importance of gold mining in Latin America. The countries of
Latin America collectively produce 378 tonnes of gold - some 15 percent
of the global total - with output having risen by 80 percent since 1990.
The
new study is part of a continuing series published by the World Gold Council
that examines the role of gold mining in the world's emerging economies.
An earlier study, A Glittering Future?, examined the importance
of gold production to Sub-Saharan Africa and demonstrated the negative
impact on these countries of a lower gold price.
The
New El Dorado indicates the lasting effects on Latin American production
caused by the lower average dollar price in recent years but also points
to the massive potential for gold production in many Latin American nations
and the support that additional gold mining could give to their economies.
Other
highlights in the report suggest:
-
There is much potential for a sustained rise in gold output across the
region, and gold production could make a growing contribution to their
economic development.
-
Growth in the region's gold output has been largely due to considerable
foreign direct investment, bringing beneficial knock-on effects to the
rest of the economy.
-
If the recent growth momentum is to be maintained, then more exploration
needs to be undertaken.
-
While production costs in the region tend to be relatively lower than
world figures, exploration projects could be jeopardized by a continuing
low gold price.
The
region's biggest success story is Peru - the world's 8th largest producer
- where production now represents some 16 percent of total exports and
cash costs are among the lowest in the world. Output has also risen particularly
rapidly in Bolivia (10 percent of exports), in Guyana (nearly a quarter)
and also in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Panama and French
Guiana. Many of these countries have substantial potential for further
rises in output if the price outlook does not deteriorate.
Commenting
on the report, Haruko Fukuda, Chief Executive Officer of the World Gold
Council said, "This research demonstrates once again the benefits gold
mining can bring to many developing countries, in the form of increased
government revenues, higher inward investment, direct and indirect employment
and improved physical and human infrastructure. Gold's contribution to
exports in Latin America is particularly helpful given the current account
deficits many countries run on their balance of payments and the still
high levels of debt service they are burdened with."
-Ends-
Copies
of the 66-page report are available free from the World Gold Council:
45 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5JG (Tel 0207-930-5171)
444 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022. (Tel: 212-684-6601 Fax: 212-725-4709).
The
World Gold Council is an international organization formed and funded
by leading gold mining companies from around the world to monitor and
analyze developments in the gold market and to encourage demand for gold
For
further information contact:
Gary Mead, World Gold Council - London Tel: (011 44207) 930-5171
Jill Leyland, World Gold Council - London Tel: (011 44207) 930-5171
George Milling-Stanley, World Gold Council - New York Tel: (212) 317-3848
Issued
by:
Victor Webb, Marston Webb Int'l, New York Tel: (212) 684-6601
Keith Irons, Bankside, London
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