Here's the latest league table of the top gold producing countries in the Americas:1) The United States of America
2) Peru
3) Argentina
4) Brazil
5) Chile
Whaaaaaaat? Argentina???? Yep, that be the way it be. According to this report from the 'Argentina Gold 2008' conference, Argentina has just displaced Brazil and Chile to move up to number three producer in the Americas.
It surprised me, and it would almost certainly come as a surprise to any Argentine you meet along the way, too. I doubt if more than 1 in 100 could name a single mine in operation in their country (well, those from Buenos Aires at least). The big producing regions of Argentina are San Juan, Santa Cruz and Cajamarca and between them they've pushed exports up 140% since the same period in 2007.