Goldcorp CEO Jeannes Sees "Peak Gold" in Sector This Year or Next

Miners have reached "peak gold," in which production of the precious metal has hit its high as easy-to-mine gold deposits become harder to find, said Chuck Jeannes, chief executive of Goldcorp, the world's largest gold miner by market capitalization.

Mr. Jeannes said in an interview that a falloff in supply will support the gold price, but make mining it even harder and lead to further consolidation in the industry. Still, the Vancouver-based miner played down investors' expectation that Goldcorp itself is poised to make a takeover bid following the rejection of its most recent attempt to buy a rival miner.

"Whether it is this year or next year, I don't think we will ever see the gold production reach these levels again," he said. "There are just not that many new mines being found and developed."

Goldcorp CEO Jeannes Sees "Peak Gold" in Sector This Year or Next