Russia May Be Third Among Gold Producers by 2015, Group Says

Russia may have the world’s third- largest gold output in 2015 as higher prices encourage mining companies to boost volumes, the head of a producers’ group said.

Should gold prices maintain their gains, Russia’s gold output will continue to expand by 4 percent to 5 percent a year through 2020, Sergey Kashuba, chairman of the country’s Gold Producers’ Union, said today at a conference in Moscow.

Gold prices have advanced for the past dozen years, averaging $1,668.77 an ounce in 2012. The price may rise to $1,845 in 2015, Morgan Stanley said in a January report. Russia mined 226 tons of gold last year and is now fourth globally, Kashuba said. China, the U.S and Australia are the three biggest producers, according to World Gold Council data.

Russia’s gold output is led by London-listed Polyus Gold International Ltd. and Polymetal International Plc. Polyus increased output last year by 12 percent to 1.68 million ounces, while Polymetal’s production jumped 33 percent to 589,000 ounces.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow at msysoyeva@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net