Approximate Global Gold Reserves Amount
Gold: The Rare Metal Way Down Under
Gold, a dense metal and one of Earth's scarcest elements, is formed when neutron stars collide, but how much of it is there on our planet? To get a grasp of this, let's delve into the golden trove human hands have dug up so far.
When speaking of gold, it's simple to begin with the quantity of it extracted by humans. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), humans have hoisted around 206,000 tons (187,000 metric tons) of gold from Earth's depths since time immemorial, mostly refined into dazzling jewelry.
However, this figure pales in comparison to the one given by the World Gold Council. They claim a staggering 238,391 tons (216,265 metric tons) of gold has been unearthed—that's a cube approximately 72 feet (22 meters) on each side, encrusted in gold! Approximately 45% of this gold has been used to craft ostentatious jewelry, while 22% is preserved as solid gold bars and coins in collections. Another 17% is stowed away by central banks, with the remaining 6% unaccounted for.
Despite the vast quantities of gold we have extracted, there are significant reserves left. The latest USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries report indicates that there are around 70,550 tons (64,000 metric tons) of gold still sitting in economically viable deposits worldwide. In terms of nations with the largest untapped reserves, Russia, Australia, and South Africa lead the pack, with China having extracted more gold than any other country in 2024.
Experts distinguish between reserves (the economically extractable portions of an ore deposit) and resources (ore deposits that researchers and companies have less certainty about). The World Gold Council estimates that the global gold reserves amount to 60,370 tons (54,770 metric tons), while gold resources are estimated to weigh about 145,626 tons (132,110 metric tons).
Now you might wonder: if we've scooped up all that gold, where is the rest of it? Well, as it turns out, much of it remains hidden away in the Earth's crust, invisible to the naked eye. Flecks and nuggets of gold, too insignificant to extract, are scattered throughout the crust. Furthermore, gold nuggets are particularly prevalent in seawater and igneous rocks. The concentration of gold in Earth's crust is just 4 parts per billion, equivalent to 0.004 grams per metric ton. This translates to a whopping 441 million tons of gold in the Earth's crust alone.
Despite this formidable quantity, it's but a drop in the proverbial ocean since the majority of Earth's gold, about 99%, is kept in the planet's core. This gold was locked away during Earth's formation, sinking to the core due to its high density. The remainder surfaced during the "Late Heavy Bombardment," the violent period between 4.1 billion and 3.8 billion years ago, when Earth was continually pummeled by meteorites.
So, despite our best efforts, there's still a tremendous amount of gold lying in wait, hiding just beneath our feet, with only a tiny percentage of it accessible to us. As Chris Voisey, an ore deposit geologist and research fellow at Monash University in Australia, put it, "I seriously doubt that researchers could ever accurately measure all the gold on the planet." And with much of it locked away in the Earth's core, it's impossible to determine exactly how much gold is yet to be discovered.
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- Source: University of California, Berkeley; The Royal Mint; World Gold Council
- Calculation: Concentration of gold in the Earth's crust * total weight of the Earth's crust. 4 parts per billion * 6 x 10^24 kg (total weight of the Earth's crust) * 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (to convert parts per billion to grams per metric ton) = 441,000,000,000,000 tons (3 times approximately the current estimate of total gold of 145,626 tons).
The seemingly endless pursuit of gold might not truly end with technological advancements in environmental-science, as much of the rare metal remains hidden in the Earth's crust. Meanwhile, investors in the finance sector might find potential opportunities in the remaining economically viable gold reserves, especially in countries like Russia, Australia, and South Africa.
