Who Owns the World’s Biggest Gold Mines?

Gold has been a highly prized commodity for thousands of years, and yet much of it still remains within the Earth’s surface. A considerable amount of the precious metal can be found as deposits in gold mines around the world, most of which are owned and operated by gold mining companies.

Operating a single gold mine requires significant capital investment in addition to prospecting, labor costs and land rights. For that reason, it’s a difficult industry to break into. Once mining sites are established, gold miners are tasked with extracting gold from ore deposits, which are located thousands of meters underground.

So it’s easy to see why gold mining companies invest significant amounts of money into the process. The price of the precious metal has gained more than 70% over the past five years and is an essential resource for many industries.

If you want to invest in gold — or more specifically, gold mining companies — it’s helpful to know which ones own the biggest gold mines. While there are more details to know than the size of a company’s gold mines, investors can benefit from understanding who the leaders in the industry are.

The top-producing gold mining companies

Publicly traded gold mining companies are required to report quarterly and annual earnings reports and other information with their shareholders. These companies also share how many tons of gold they produce each year.

Based on that information, the following are the top five gold mining companies based on 2023 year-end gold production:

• Newmont: 172.3 tons
• Barrick Gold: 126 tons
• Agnico Eagle Mines: 106.8 tons
• Polyus: 90.3 tons
• Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company: 88.9 tons

Newmont is also the world’s largest gold mining company by market cap. While it’s approaching a $50 billion market cap, Agnico Eagle Mines is closing in on a $40 billion market cap. Barrick Gold is just shy of a $30 billion market cap. For income-focused investors, both Newmont and Agnico Eagle Mines pay dividends that yield above 2%.

Barrick Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines are Canadian-based miners, while Newmont is a U.S.-based miner. Nonetheless, each company has mines located worldwide. Russian-based Polyus has a market cap of roughly $15 billion after converting the Russian ruble to U.S. dollars. Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company is headquartered in Uzbekistan.

The world’s biggest gold mines

The largest gold mining companies own and operate mines worldwide. Acquiring more mines allows companies to extract more gold and command higher profits. The 10 largest mines are spread across several countries, with three of them calling the U.S. home:

• Grasberg Mine (Indonesia): Owned by the Indonesian government (51.23% stake) and Freeport-McMoRan (48.77% stake)
• Muruntau Mine (Uzbekistan): Owned by the Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Company
• Cortez Mine (United States): Owned by Nevada Gold Mines
• Super Pit Mine (Australia): Owned by Northern Star Resources
• Yanacocha Mine (Peru): Owned by Newmont
• Tarkwa Mine (Ghana): Owned by Gold Fields, with the government of Ghana maintaining a 10% stake
• Carlin Trend Mine (United States): Owned by Nevada Gold Mines
• Lihir Mine (Papua New Guinea): Owned by Newcrest Mining
• Goldstrike Mine (United States): Owned by Nevada Gold Mines
• Boddington Mine (Australia): Owned by Newmont
  

Nevada Gold Mines owns some of the top 10 gold mines. That company is a joint venture owned by Barrick Gold and Newmont — the two largest gold mining companies in the world. Barrick Gold has a 61.5% stake in Nevada Gold Mines, while Newmont has a 38.5% stake.

Should investors buy gold mining stocks or physical gold?

Investing in gold mining stocks appears more attractive on the surface. It can be easier to buy stocks of these companies than it is to buy physical gold.

Investors also have to store and insure physical gold, while a gold mining stock stays in your portfolio without any storage costs. Finally, some gold mining companies pay quarterly dividends to shareholders. Meanwhile, physical gold doesn’t produce yield.

However, that’s where the advantages end for gold mining stocks. At the end of the day, investors care about growing their money as quickly as possible. For the most part, gold mining companies fall short and underperform a lot of assets, including physical gold.

Newmont, Agnico Eagle Mines and Barrick Gold are the top three gold mining companies based on market cap. Despite Newmont and Agnico Eagle Mines both paying dividends around 2% yields, the long-term returns of those companies don’t compare to physical gold.

Here’s how those three gold mining stocks have performed over the past year as of Nov. 20, 2024 compared to the one-year performance of gold itself:

• Newmont: 17.23%
• Agnico Eagle Mines: 70.03%
• Barrick Gold: 13.77%
• Physical gold: 32.62%

Agnico Eagle Mines is the only company that delivered a higher one-year gain than gold. But when comparing that company’s five-year return of 37.70% to gold’s five-year return of 74%, the difference between owning shares of gold mining companies versus physical gold is apparent.

Gold mining companies deliver different returns from physical gold because each company has fluctuations in revenue, operating expenses and net income, all of which impact long-term performance.

Physical gold outperformed Newmont and Barrick Gold over the past year, but the gap expands when looking at five-year gains:

• Newmont: 11%
• Agnico Eagle Mines: 37.70%
• Barrick Gold: 3%
• Physical gold: 74%

Even when factoring for dividends, Newmont and Agnico Eagle Mines can’t compete with gold’s five-year returns. It’s easier to hold onto shares of gold mining companies, but investors who want to maximize their returns should consider adding physical gold to their investment portfolios.

Read our guide to the best online gold dealers to learn more about precious metal investing.

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