Statistics from the World Gold Council (WGC) disclosed that towards the end of last year, there were approximately 183,000 tons of gold stocks globally.
China turned out as the biggest producer of gold and accounted for roughly 15 percent of collective production. All together, the Asian region is responsible for 22 percent of the newly-mined yellow metal.
On the other hand, South and Central America produces more or less 17 percent while North America generated 15 percent. Africa supplies 20 percent and around 14 percent come from the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Total gold supply moved only a little (year on year) after lower recycling initiatives counterbalanced increase in mine supply. Production climbed up two percent annually to 729.2 tons.
Meanwhile, several small-scale endeavors starting this year are expected to make up for continuing declines at well-known mining operations. The 16.7 ton upsurge in mine production during the first quarter expanded across numerous markets. Mines in North America generated growth of something like nine percent.
This denotes a turnaround for the US markets after lagging behind in production for the last two years. Cerro Negro in Argentina continues to perform and is projected to adding 3 tons of production each year. African mines also played a part in the growth such as Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Some 20 small-scale projects are coming online also this year but experts say these can add 20 tons in 2015 and eventually increase to a mutual total of almost 50 tons in 2016. Net impact will possibly become neutral over the year.
Economic analysts predict that an additional increase is possible in the next quarter as tail end of advancement is expected to come through from several projects. However, they perceive negative comparisons from July until December of 2015.