Australian output crisis could prove platform for gold investment

South Africa's AngloGold Ashanti has expressed its fears that the £12 billion local gold industry in Australia is on the brink of crisis.

The company, which is also a major player on the Australian gold production scene, has stakes in the Boddington and Tropicana projects in the west of the country.

However, the firm's head Mark Cutifani has explained that there has been a 20 per cent decline in Australian output in the past ten years, with a further 20 per cent fall possible over the next five years.

He told a Melbourne Mining Club lunch that there have been "a whole range of things from a policy point of view" that have created a "significant" risk for Australian mines.

If Mr Cutifani's predictions are to be believed, buying gold could be a sound investment for the future as such a considerable decrease in output would push gold prices higher.

AngloGold, the world's third biggest gold producer, reported in June that its South African mines were fatality-free during Q2 for the first time in over 100 years.