We know that gold makes up about four parts per billion of the Earth's crust. However, what we don't know is exactly how much gold is still out there. The WGC estimates that there are 54,000 tons of “underground gold reserves” waiting to be extracted. Experts estimate that we have less than 55,000 tons of gold left to discover.
With the potential for such a large amount of gold still out there, it's no wonder why many people are turning to Gold silver IRA custodians to help them invest in gold and silver. Even so, we can't be sure how much of this amount can be extracted. We know that the Earth's crust is golden at a ratio of approximately four parts per billion. We also know that gold can be found and extracted from the ocean, which is thought to contain about 10,000 tons of gold. The continent of Antarctica is even known to have large gold deposits buried deep in the ice.
Estimates of all the gold mined in the world to date are around 165,000 metric tons. Some estimates are as high as 1 million tons, but most experts agree that less than 200,000 is accurate. Global gold supplies are difficult to quantify. This is because gold reserves are not always accurately declared.
More than 50% of the gold found above ground is used for jewelry, making it difficult to trace. Gold rings, necklaces and others can change hands without registration. About 35% is stored as ingots for investments and reserves. Large gold holders give misleading figures on their reserves, presumably for security reasons, but who knows? There are many options available for buying and selling physical gold on international markets and for virtually any currency you want to trade with.
Large-scale mining is extremely capital-intensive and employs a lot of machinery and experience to extract vast areas on and below the surface. Therefore, central banks often use gold to diversify their assets and protect against the depreciation of fiat currency. Other important sources of gold are the deep-sea Mponeng mine in China, the Super Pit and Newmont Boddington mines in Australia, the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, and the mines along Carlin Unconformity, in Nevada (USA). U.S.).
Once the peak of gold is reached, global gold production will gradually decline until all economically exploiting deposits have been extracted. The peak of gold is defined as the point at which world gold production reaches its historical highest point. This geological formation is believed to be the result of an ancient meteorite and has produced more than 1.5 billion troy ounces of gold since it was discovered in 1886. Despite this apparently large amount, the amount of gold extracted from mines has decreased and, in some cases, even decreased, in recent years. It's also important to remember that the total amount of gold in the Earth's crust and the total amount that can be viably extracted are not the same.
However, the costs associated with extracting it and transporting it back to land are significantly higher than the value of gold.
