Institutions: World Gold Council

The World Gold Council (www.gold.org) is a global organization with about 100 employees spread across seven offices in the world. It was founded in 1987 by leading gold mining companies. The purpose of this foundation was, and still is, to stimulate and sustain the demand for gold. The World Gold Council is defined as "the development organization of the market in favor of the gold-bearing."

The World Gold Council operates in four areas to achieve what it has set itself:

  • In the area of investment, which covers private and institutional investors
  • In the jewelry industry
  • In the field of technology
  • In the formal sector, which stimulates the demand from governments and central banks

The members of the World Gold Council

The World Gold Council has 22 members, namely gold mining companies representing approximately 60% of annual gold production at the global level. According to November 2011, members of the World Gold Council bill more than 40 billion U.S. dollars as annual revenue and has a market capitalization of more than $ 200 billion.

The current members of the World Gold Council are:

  • African Barrick
  • Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd
  • Alamos Gold Inc.
  • AngloGold Ashanti
  • Barrick Gold Corp.
  • Buenaventura
  • Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation
  • Eldorado Gold Corporation
  • Franco-Nevada Corporation
  • Goldcorp Inc.
  • Golden Star Resources Ltd
  • Gold Fields Limited
  • IAMGOLD Corporation
  • Kinross Gold Corporation
  • New Gold Inc.
  • Newmont Mining Corporation
  • Primero Mining Corporation
  • Yamana Gold Inc.

The Board of Directors of the World Gold Council is composed mainly by the presidents or CEOs of the member airlines of the organization.

The activities of the World Gold Council in the field of investment

In the investment sector, the World Gold Council has set itself the aim of stimulating and sustaining demand for gold as a form of investment. Its activities in this regard can be summarized as follows:

  • investment research goldfields
  • Market Gold as an asset class
  • Cooperation with financial services institutions to develop new channels of investment gold mining and to launch investment products auriferous

Since its founding, the Gold Council has established cooperation with the aim of making gold more accessible to private and institutional investors. For more than 30 years, the World Gold Council has cooperated with the Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo KK, the largest gold trader in Japan, to promote gold coins and so-called "Gold Accumulation Plans". The latter are introduced for the first time by Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo in 1980 and promoted by the regional banks throughout Japan. In 2006 is recorded more than 200 tons of gold accumulated in those plans. The World Gold Council also cooperates with the Mitsubishi Corporation, the largest general merchant in Japan, to promote the Gold Accumulation Plans to retail customers. In 2010, the World Gold Council to establish cooperation with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to jointly launch a Gold Accumulation Plan in China. In 2011, ICBC has recorded more than 2 million customers with these plans. In 2003/2004 the World Gold Council shall cooperate with the State Street Global to develop and launch ETFs. Nowadays there are some 90 billion U.S. dollars in ETFs and ETCs supported by the World Gold Council. More information can be found here Exchange Traded Gold.