Gold has been prized by civilizations since ancient times, as a symbol of wealth and an important component in a multitude of industrial applications. Tracking global gold production provides insights into a nation's economic health, its mining capabilities and regulatory environment, and the balance of global wealth. Since gold production is largely influenced by geological factors, understanding the geography of gold can also shed light on geological theories.
Notably, until 2006, South Africa was breaching the zenith of gold production globally. In an interesting shift from 2007, increasing production in other countries and South Africa's declining yields caused China to ascend to first place, although none have approximated South Africa's peak production scale during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
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