Total Amount of Gold Mined: How Much Gold Has Been Extracted Globally?

Well, folks, let’s talk about that shiny, sparkly stuff – gold. Now, gold’s been a big deal for as long as folks can remember, right? I mean, people have been digging it up for centuries, and it’s been making folks rich or causing a lot of trouble. But just how much of that golden treasure have we dug up over all these years? Let me tell ya, it’s a lot more than you might think!

First off, you might be wonderin’ just how much gold has been pulled outta the ground in all of history. Well, according to them folks over at *, it’s more than 208,000 tonnes. Can you even imagine? That’s a whole heap of gold! Now, not all of that gold came out yesterday or even in the last century. No sir, most of it’s been dug up in the last 70, 80 years or so. In fact, about two-thirds of all the gold that’s ever been mined was pulled out since 1950. That’s some serious gold fever, if you ask me!

Now, if we look at the numbers from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), it paints a big picture too. They say there’s been about 244,000 metric tons of gold discovered – that includes gold that’s been mined, plus what’s still sitting down there deep underground waiting for someone to dig it up. But here’s the kicker: Out of that, around 187,000 metric tons of it has been actually pulled outta the ground over the years. The rest of it’s still in the earth, just waitin’ for the next generation to figure out how to get to it. Makes you wonder if we’ll ever run out of the stuff, huh?

And speaking of running out, folks still keep on mining it. In fact, in 2023 alone, they pulled out 3,000 tonnes of gold from the earth. That’s just in one year! You gotta wonder – how much gold is left down there? According to the folks who keep track of all this stuff, there’s still plenty of gold down there, with around 57,000 tonnes estimated to be still in the ground. So, while we’ve dug up a whole bunch, there’s still a good bit left to go around. Now, don’t go thinkin’ it’s all gonna be easy pickings. That gold’s buried deep, and getting at it takes some real work.

So, how does all this gold end up, anyway? Well, most of it gets used in jewelry, coins, and sometimes in fancy electronics. But, truth be told, a good chunk of it’s just sittin’ around in vaults, waitin’ to be used for who knows what. Over the years, folks have melted it down and shaped it into all kinds of things. And you know, it ain’t like it’s going anywhere. Gold doesn’t rust or tarnish, so the gold you see today might’ve been dug up a hundred years ago and it’ll still look shiny and bright for years to come.

Now, I know what you’re thinkin’. You’re probably wonderin’ what this all means for us regular folks. Well, gold is a big ol’ part of the world economy, that’s for sure. It’s used to back up money, keep economies stable, and folks even buy gold when they’re lookin’ to protect their savings from things like inflation. Ain’t no wonder people love the stuff so much!

So, in the grand scheme of things, we’ve dug up a whole lotta gold, but there’s still a bunch left down there in the earth. Whether we’ll be able to get to it all or if we’ll run out someday, well, that’s a question for folks a lot smarter than me. But for now, you can rest easy knowing that gold ain’t goin’ anywhere anytime soon. So if you got a little gold ring or a shiny necklace, well, just know you’re holdin’ onto a piece of history – and who knows, maybe a little piece of the future too!

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