Global battery demand to quadruple by 2030 — report
According to Bain & Company, lithium-ion batteries will remain dominant for the foreseeable future.
China National Gold Group Corporation – the nation’s number one producer of the precious metal – said Monday that first-half revenues surged 61.4% to $7.8 billion compared to 2011 and should exceed $15.5 billion for the full year.
Xinhua reports the Beijing-based company said its first-half profits “met 53.26% of the target for this year, without disclosing exact figures”:
“The gold producer added 87 tonnes of gold and 200,000 tonnes of copper to its reserves in the first half. At the end of June, the company’s reserves of gold, copper and molybdenum reached 1,565 tonnes, 10.2 million tonnes and 2.01 million tonnes, respectively.”
Official ministry figures for the first five months of 2012 released in July show China’s gold output for the period rose 6.6% year on year to 140.7 tonnes. China produced 380 tonnes of gold during 2011, over a 100 tonnes more than its nearest rival, according to data from London-based mining and metals consultants CRU.
CNGGC’s stellar numbers are in stark contrast to the performance of some of the top public gold companies listed in North America. A report by Deutsche Bank argued that the abrupt departures of Tye Burt of Kinross Gold last week and Aaron Regent from Barrick Gold in June “show that investors and boards are fed up with management teams that can’t control runaway costs and capitalize on a strong gold market.”
