Australia, Russia and the US are expected to lead the charge with 23 of the 90 new or expansion projects progressing towards production in these jurisdictions, the firm says.

"The majority of gold production growth will be supported by Russia, which is expected to deliver a net increase of 3.4Moz, at a CAGR of 4.5%, over the forecast period. This will be followed by the US with a net increase of 1.6Moz, at 4.7% CAGR; and Australia with 1.4Moz at 2.8% CAGR," said senior mining analyst Vinneth Bajaj.

The largest mines expected to enter production in the next four years are the Donlin and Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) projects, in 2023, as well as Pascua-Lama in 2021. These mines will have a combined annual gold production capacity of more than 3.2Moz.

"The list of mines undergoing expansion includes some of the longest-operating mines such as Turquoise Ridge and Round Mountain in the US; and the St Ives gold mine complex and Olympic Dam mines in Australia," Bajaj said.

In contrast, production is declining in China, Chile and Mexico. Production in China declined by 5.9% in 2018 due to the introduction of the environmental protection tax, which has led to an increase in mining processing costs, according to GlobalData.

Newmont Goldcorp has become the world's leading gold mining company and is expected to produce between 6-7Moz of gold in 2019. In 2018, the company produced 5.1Moz, which is lower than the prior year due to lower grades at several sites such as KCGM and lower leach tonnes at Phoenix, Carlin and Yanacocha.

Barrick Gold is the second biggest gold company, having produced 4.5Moz in 2018, while AngloGold Ashanti is third with 3.4Moz.