Australia gold output rises as its currency shrinks

Sydney

AUSTRALIAN miners are digging deeper for more gold as a weaker currency drives bullion prices higher, a survey released on Sunday showed.

Gold output in Australia - the world's second-biggest producing country after China - climbed to 285 tonnes in 2015, almost two tonnes more than in 2014 and the highest annual total since 2003, according to Surbiton Associates, a private consultancy to the sector.