Gold mining is vital to the fragile economies of many developing countries, which account for approximately 70% of global gold production.  In addition to generating export revenue in these countries, organised gold production provides royalty and tax income to host governments, technology transfer and the creation of a skilled workforce.

Large scale gold mining can also bring substantial improvements in physical, social, legal and financial infrastructure. In many of these countries, gold mining is a foundation industry that often provides the critical mass for the development of electricity, water, road and rail transport in a region, factors that are the essential foundations of an economy.  This characteristic of the industry is particularly important in Africa where lack of infrastructure has been identified as one of the major hindrances to economic development.

The World Gold Council report The Golden Building Block: gold mining and the transformation of developing economies found significant positive macroeconomic benefits to developing countries from large-scale gold production.  The September 2009 report, which presented an in-depth case study of Tanzania in addition to surveying past case studies of Ghana, Chile and Peru by the International Council on Mining & Metals, found that a major surge in recent foreign direct investment had come overwhelmingly from large-scale gold mining.  Tanzania is now in the upper-middle ranking of African countries as a destination for FDI. In the early 1990s, before major gold mining had commenced, Tanzania would have appeared near the bottom of this ranking. Nearly two-thirds of the surge in FDI after 1998 was shown to come from the five major gold mines surveyed in the report alone.

As far as tax payments to the government, the report found that AngloGold Ashanti and Barrick are among the highest single taxpayers in Tanzania, and this is before the effects of the early-stage tax breaks from accelerated depreciation have been exhausted: this will boost tax payments significantly. Tanzania’s export earnings from gold mining are already a substantial US$770 million, but these look set to double, based on the report’s data alone, by 2016. Employment flowing from Tanzania’s gold mining industry is also significant; the sector creates more jobs than the country’s utility sectors combined, including gas, electricity and water. The economic boost from this is magnified by the employment multiplier (estimated to be over three in Tanzania).

Gold mining companies source supplies locally and employ local labour where possible. Thus, even allowing for some necessary imports and for the remittance of profits and dividends, their impact on a developing country's balance of payments is strongly positive. Gold mining, and metals mining generally, is essentially free of the distorting subsidies applied by some developed countries to agricultural production.

Gold is often thought of as synonymous with wealth. Yet gold coins, bars and high-carat jewellery play a crucial role as a means of saving and defence against misfortune to many of the poor of the world. Similarly gold mining brings benefits to poorer nations. It will continue to have a role to play in fostering economic development.