"I've never seen anything like it," the boss of leading gold producer Ramelius Resources told the Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum on Tuesday.
"Normally, in one year, you probably get to see two to three gold plants get built," Mark Zeptner told journalists in Australia's gold capital of Kalgoorlie in WA.
"I reckon you can get up to about 10 (in 2026), and there's no way they are all going to get built this year.
"It's unprecedented."
Ramelius' wages bill runs at around five to seven per cent of its costs each year, some of which feeds into its overall 10-15 per cent engineering capital expenditure.
"In the engineering space, they (workers) are very sought after" across the industry, Mr Zeptner said.
But Ramelius hasn't had a big change in its turnover rates, which he described as "respectable".
"It's under 20 (per cent) in terms of our people, in terms of turnover, so that hasn't really escalated significantly."
The firm, a top-100 listed company trading on the Australian stock exchange, has about 1000 workers, including 700 contractors.
Ramelius recently released a new four-year plan underpinning its ambition to increase production of the yellow metal to more than 500,000 ounces a year by 2030.
It produces about 200,000 ounces, mainly driven by its Mt Magnet gold project in WA's Murchison region.
The forum on Monday heard that in a world dominated by two major wars and high inflation, the outlook for precious metals like gold is looking up.
The spot price of gold is hovering around $US4,000 an ounce, after touching an all-time high of $US5,589.38 on January 28.
"As the world order is changing, it is positive for the mining industry," the head of Evolution Mining Lawrie Conway said.
Two years ago, the long-term average consensus for gold and copper prices was about $US1,800 an ounce and $US3.90 per pound, respectively.
The gold price has now more than doubled while the copper price has lifted 40 per cent to $US5.90 per pound, Mr Conway noted.
As the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine continue, central banks around the world are moving away from holding US Treasury debt toward gold.
"So that is good for gold," Mr Conway said.
"If you're a gold producer, it's a great place to be.
"But if you're a gold producer in these times (of high price inflation), the safest bet is to have a high-margin business."
Mr Conway believes Evolution, a major NSW-based gold and copper miner, is in that category.
"Our margin has exceeded the industry average, (and) it means we are generating more cash per ounce of gold that we produce than anyone else," he said.
The company is the second-largest gold producer on the Australian stock exchange and wholly owns five mines, including Cowal (NSW), Ernest Henry and Mt Rawdon (Queensland), Mungari (WA) and Red Lake (Canada).
It also has an 80 per cent stake in the Northparks mine in NSW.
The gold price is trading about 20 per cent above where it was during the 2025 forum.
It's also well up from a decade ago, when gold peaked at $US1,366.25.
Some market watchers, such as US investment bank JPMorgan, are still tipping another rally in the coming months, with a potential push toward $US5,000 or more on the cards.
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