Mainland China's Gold Output Falls By 5.9% In May

Although well up from May of 2009, gold production in mainland China has dropped by 5.9% from April's figure.

Reuters calculations from the official data, which is released sporadically by the ministry, showed that primary gold production slowed while secondary production, a much smaller source of gold, surged after a slow couple of months.

The volume produced as a by-product of other metals rose 6.9 percent from April to 5.215 tonnes, 20 percent higher than a year before, while the volume from gold mining slid 3.7 percent from April but remained higher than in May 2009.

China has raised gold production every year since 2004, producing a total of 313.980 tonnes last year, an average of 26.165 tonnes per month.

There was no explanation why, which might get the rumour mill going. May's prices were typically higher than April's.