We've been producing more gold and making more money off it

New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals has released its Mining Industry Statistics for the 2023 year.

It shows gold production totaled 220 thousand ounces, a 2.5-percent increase on 2022.

Government revenue from all royalties and Energy Resource Levies was up 2.6 per-cent to 242-million-dollars.

Total gold royalties shot up thanks to its strong price - increasing almost 20-percent.

While production of coal fell 1.4-percent.