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'We're right at peak gold': All major deposits have been discovered, declares Goldcorp chairman

'Are we not looking for it? Are we bad at finding it? Or have we found it all? My answer is we found it all'


Annual gold production from mines has been increasing, albeit incrementally, from 2,744 metric tons in 2010 to 3,298 in 2017.Akos Stiller/Bloomberg

By Gabriel Friedman
May 16, 2018 4:11 PM EDT

Ian Telfer, chairman of Goldcorp Inc., is the latest industry magnate to predict the world has reached “peak gold,” saying that from here on out, mine production will continue to decline because all the major deposits have been discovered.

“If I could give one sentence about the gold mining business … it’s that in my life, gold produced from mines has gone up pretty steadily for 40 years,” said Telfer. “Well, either this year it starts to go down, or next year it starts to go down, or it’s already going down.”

“We’re right at peak gold here,” he added.

Although gold prices sank two per cent to US$1,289.86 per ounce this week, sliding below the psychologically significant US$1,300 mark for the first time this year, Telfer said that day that he remained “bullish” and predicted gold prices would surpass US$1,500 or US$1,600 per ounce before the end of the year.

Telfer made the comments to the Financial Post while waiting to board a flight from Vancouver to Toronto, where on Thursday he will be inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. In a wide-ranging interview, he discussed his personal career highlights, market trends and company strategy.


“Are we bad at finding it? Or have we found it all? My answer is we found it all,” says Ian Telfer, chairman of Goldcorp Inc. Peter J. Thompson/National Post

In addition to starting Goldcorp, one of the world’s largest gold mining companies, Telfer has racked up numerous other successes in mining during the past few decades. Many people credit him with inventing the financial structure for streaming — the term for making an upfront payment for long term rights to some or all of the revenues from a specific metal extracted from a mine.

The notion raised by Telfer that the world has hit maximum gold production, or peak gold, is gaining popularity. Last September, the chairman of the World Gold Council, Randall Oliphant, made a similar prediction, echoing what some industry leaders have been saying for years.

According to the WGC, which advocates for the gold industry and compiles research, annual gold production from mines has been increasing, albeit incrementally, from 2,744 metric tons in 2010 to 3,298 in 2017. Last year’s production represented less than a one per cent year over year increase from the 3,274 metric tons produced in 2016.



http://business.financialpost.com/commodities/mining/were-right-at-peak-gold-all-the-major-deposits-have-been-discovered-declares-goldcorp-chairman