Gold is and always has been in high demand, and gold mining is as profitable as ever. But how much of this precious metal have we already extracted from the earth?
Image by Lawrence OP
According to the website of World Gold Council, the total amount of gold that has been mined is approximately 150,000 tonnes. If we gathered all of this in one place, it would fit in a cube measuring nineteen metres on each side, or in an area almost as large as a tennis court. It is estimated that 75 percent of this gold has been mined since 1910.
About a quarter of this gold is owned by the world’s central banks. USA owns the largest amount of gold, approximately 8,139 tonnes. Germany and the IMF both own about half as much as USA. China has declared its intention to increase its gold reserves in the next ten years, and hope to own more than 10,000 tonnes. India also owns a lot of gold, and has purchased hundreds of tonnes from the IMF.
However, individuals own more gold than governments do. Of the 150,000 tonnes in existence, about 100,000 tonnes is the property of private individuals. India has the largest amount of privately owned gold – about 25,000 tonnes – three times that of the US government!
So how much gold remains below the surface of the earth, waiting to be mined? According to various estimates, there are between 20,000 and 50,000 tonnes of gold left for us to excavate from the earth, and most of this is found in South Africa.
Luckily, there is still much scrap gold for us to recycle and turn into new gold items. Old jewellery, dental gold and gold found in electronic devices can be melted and re-used. If you are looking for gold buyers to buy gold that you no longer need, Postal Gold’s website is only a click away!
