U.S. gold production dropped 4% in the first five months of this year, the U.S. Geological Survey said Thursday in its Mineral Industry Surveys gold report.
Total domestic gold production for the period from January through May was 89,200 kilograms (2,867,846 troy ounces). The state of Nevada led U.S. gold output with 64,900 kilograms (2,057,647 ozs) of production, followed by Alaska gold mining at 12,500 kilograms (401,884 ozs) and other states at 11,800 kilograms (379,378 ozs).
However, May production of gold by U.S. mines dropped 5% to 18,000 kilograms (607,649 ozs) compared with May 2012 with 18,900 kilograms (607,649 ozs) of gold output, the USGS reported. Average daily gold production for U.S. mines was 582 kg (18,711ozs) in May, down from 609 kg (19,079 ozs) in May from last year.
In their analysis, the USGS noted that May was the eighth consecutive month that the average gold price decreased.
Some domestic gold mining companies announced reductions in production in May including Atna Resources, which deferred ramp up of the Pinson underground mining operation near Winnemucca, Nevada and announced that it was considering scaling back development plans at its Hycroft Mine also near Winnemucca.
On May 14th, an underground tunnel collapse at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold’s Grasberg Mine in Indonesia killed 28 workers, reducing both copper and gold output for the Phoenix-based miner.