Artisanal gold mining, the largest source of global mercury pollution in small-scale operations, is the only source of income for as many as 15 million people in 70 countries, mostly poor ones.
The company warned Monday it would report lower production figures for the October-December quarter, mainly due to the strikes that hit its South African operations last year.
Latin America will benefit from having “more firepower” than other regions, as strong international reserves are already helping those countries face commodity price collapses, said Lisa Schineller, Standard & Poor's economist.
Exploration investment in the country reached a record high of $3.9 billion in 2011, with the three territories receiving 22% of the total international spending for the year.
Even with significant ore bodies coming on stream from 2015 onwards in Brazil (Anglo’s Minas Rio and Vale’s Serra Sul), Australia will be able to keep its crown in this commodity kingdom thanks to Rio, say analysts.
