{"id":27540,"date":"2024-03-11T03:00:49","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T10:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.advantagegold.com\/?p=27540"},"modified":"2024-03-11T03:00:49","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T10:00:49","slug":"just-how-much-gold-is-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.advantagegold.com\/blog\/just-how-much-gold-is-there\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Gold Has Been Mined?"},"content":{"rendered":"

That\u2019s a complicated question. The exact amount of previously mined gold is disputed for two reasons:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Because of how much gold has been used in the course of history.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    1. Because of uncertainty around how much gold has yet to be discovered.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), around<\/span> 244,000 metric tons of gold have been discovered<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a>. Nearly 187,000 metric tons have historically been produced, with an additional 57,000 metric tons in underground reserves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      As a natural resource, gold\u2019s value is largely determined by supply and demand. The fact is there is only so much <\/span>mineable<\/span>\u00a0gold on the planet. Eventually, supplies could run out.\u202fSome analysts believe that Earth’s available gold could be dug up within 20 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      What does 187,000 metric tons of gold look like?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Picture a 10-foot-tall pile of gold covering a standard-size tennis court. That\u2019s it. That\u2019s the estimated amount of available gold remaining on Earth.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      It might not seem like much, but that\u2019s a conservative number. Some estimates put the amount of available gold significantly higher at over 2 million metric tons.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      The problem with estimates is that no one quite knows for sure. Human civilization has mined gold for so long that it might be impossible to determine how much of it we\u2019ve pulled from the ground. But that won\u2019t stop people from trying to figure that out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Where Is All of the Mined Gold?<\/h2>\n

      Most of the previously mined gold discovered to date has come from three countries: China, Australia, and South Africa.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      But where is that gold now?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      According to the World Gold Council, around 212,582 tons of gold have been mined\u2014two-thirds of which have been mined since 1950. Of that amount, the indestructible metal is presumed to exist in the following forms:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n