The True Amount of Gold in the Earth: How Much Gold Has Been Mined and Reserves Left?

You ever wonder how much gold there really is in this ol’ earth of ours? I reckon a lot of folks been ponderin’ that for years, and I ain’t gonna lie, it ain’t the easiest thing to figure out. But don’t worry, I’ll tell ya all I know, and we’ll try to make some sense out of it.

Now, if you ask most folks, they’d tell ya there’s probably way more gold sittin’ in the earth than anyone can imagine. But here’s the thing—gold is scarce, real scarce. In fact, if ya dig deep enough, you might find out that the earth’s crust ain’t exactly loaded with gold. Folks say there’s only about 0.005 parts per million of gold in there. Sounds like not much, right? But let me tell ya, even a little bit of gold can make a mighty fine pile when you put it all together.

So, when you look at the whole planet, they say about 244,000 metric tons of gold has been found so far. Now, don’t go thinkin’ that’s all sittin’ out there for the pickin’, ’cause most of it’s already been dug up or locked away in vaults and all kinds of fancy places. Out of that 244,000 tons, there’s about 187,000 tons that’s been pulled outta the ground over the years. That’s a lotta gold, right? But then, ya got about 57,000 tons still sittin’ underground, waitin’ to be found. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a whole lot of treasure hidden somewhere!

But let’s get into the numbers a little more. As of 2020, they say there’s still around 53,000 tons of gold that’s been spotted in what they call ‘identified reserves.’ That means, it’s gold that folks know is out there, but they ain’t all dug it up yet ’cause it’s either too far down, or too hard to get to, or maybe even too expensive to bother with. I reckon the folks in Australia know all about that, seein’ as they got a big chunk of that gold under their feet. In fact, Australia, China, and South Africa, they’ve been the top dogs when it comes to pullin’ gold outta the earth.

Now, if you’re wonderin’ where this gold all ends up, let me tell ya: A lot of it’s sittin’ in banks and government vaults. You won’t find it just hangin’ around on the street, that’s for sure. As of right now, the World Gold Council says there’s about 184,000 tons of gold locked up in them places. And let me tell ya, that’s a whole lot of shiny stuff. Some folks even say it’s worth about $12.5 trillion. Can you believe that? Makes you wonder how much of that’s really sittin’ in the hands of just a few folks.

But hold on, let’s not forget about the earth itself. We still don’t know just how much gold’s out there, deep down, waitin’ to be discovered. The best estimates say there’s still gold out there we ain’t found yet, and some folks reckon it’s around 50,000 metric tons still hidden away. Now, that’s a lotta gold to go diggin’ for!

So, when you think about it, even though gold seems rare, there’s still a heap of it sittin’ under the ground, just waitin’ for someone to come along and find it. And I reckon with technology gettin’ better and better, we’ll be pullin’ more and more of it up outta the earth. It’s like findin’ a hidden treasure chest—just gotta know where to look!

In the end, how much gold is in the earth? Well, it ain’t an easy question to answer, but one thing’s for sure: There’s more than enough to make this ol’ world sparkle, and it’s not goin’ anywhere anytime soon. It’s just a matter of how much folks are willin’ to dig for it, and how much they can afford to leave in the ground for future generations to find.

Tags：[gold, earth, reserves, gold mining, gold deposits, World Gold Council, gold reserves, gold in earth, how much gold is in the earth, gold in the crust, discovered gold]