Gold miners’ $18.2B payout masks rising ESG pressures
Record government payments and safer mines contrast with rising emissions and energy intensity across major gold producers.
Gold mining companies paid governments a record $18.2 billion last year, marking a 77% increase from the previous year, according to the Metals Focus report. Even as the industry faced rising emissions and energy intensity, these financial contributions grew stronger due to higher gold prices. Local procurement reached a new peak of $30.8 billion, underscoring the sector's importance to host economies.
While greenhouse gas emissions remained relatively stable at 29,898 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, emissions intensity increased by 7%, averaging 0.9 tonnes per gold-equivalent ounce. The report highlighted that while Scope 2 emissions fell for the fourth consecutive year due to increased renewable energy use, Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions rose, with some companies struggling to meet their sustainability targets.
Despite these challenges, safety performance showed improvement, with the lowest number of fatalities since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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