Other important sources of gold include the extremely deep Mponeng mine in South Africa, the Super Pit and Newmont Boddington mines in Australia, the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, and mines in the state of Nevada in the United States.

China is currently the world's largest gold producer, while Canada, Russia and Peru are also major players internationally.

In terms of companies, Nevada Gold Mines, majority owned by Canadian company Barrick Gold, is the largest gold mining complex in the world, with a production of around 3.5 million ounces per year.

Although new gold mines are still being found, experts point out that discoveries of large deposits are becoming increasingly scarce. As a result, most gold production now comes from older mines that have been in use for decades.

Pueblo Viejo Displaced Yanacocha in Latin America

For nearly two decades, Minera Yanacocha in Peru was the leading gold producer in Latin America. However, various circumstances caused its production to drop and its privileged position to be occupied by the Pueblo Viejo mine in Dominican Republic.

Pueblo Viejo was the fourth largest production mine in 2018, with a total of 30.1 tons and projected to reach 31.1 tons in 2019, according to oroinformación.com magazine. However, its production rate was declining due to the lower concentration of gold in the ore extracted, the magazine explains.

Its owner, the Canadian Barrick Gold, has undertaken an expansion process "that will allow the leading mine (in the region) to extend its useful life to the 2030s or even beyond," states the publication.

Sources: BBC Mundo, oroinformación.com and MINEM