Russian firms produced 7.53 tonnes of gold in January, 12.4 percent more than in January of 2010, the Gold Industrialists' Union industry lobby said on Saturday. The union expects gold production by Russia - the world's No 5 producer - to rebound to 205-207 tonnes this year after it fell 1.4 percent last year to 201.3 tonnes.
January mined output increased 8.7 percent year-on-year to 6.27 tonnes, the union said in a statement. Output of gold as a by-product of other metals increased by 25.2 percent to 0.616 tonnes and refining from scrap rose by 48.3 percent to 0.639 tonnes. Russia's gold reserves are second only to South Africa's.