Gold production was “in crisis” and a gold price of $900-to-$1...

Gold production was “in crisis” and a gold price of $900-to-$1 000/oz was needed to arrest the downward trend, AngloGold Ashanti CEO Mark Cutifani said on Thursday.

Cutifani said that the world had seen a decline in the production of gold across the globe in the past seven years, and that the industry could experience another decline of production at up to 5% a year for the next five years.

“The gold industry from a production perspective is in crisis,” he said.

There had been a 20% to 30% production decline in South Africa in the last five years and grades are continuing to diminish in opencast mines around the world.

That lack of production, he said, would result in gold’s fundamentals improving.

Recovery of production was now being set back by the current global financial crisis, which would exacerbate the current problem.

“We need something in the order of $900/oz to $1 000/oz for there to be ongoing and sustainable investment in gold, to turn that trend around,” he added.