Gold deposits

All the gold in the world

Gold mining sites are spread all over the world. Most of them are solid deposits. This means that the precious metal must first be separated from the rock before it can be processed. It is interesting to note that the extraction of gold-bearing rock in mines is profitable even if a ton of extracted rock contains only one gram of gold. However, in recent years it has become increasingly difficult to fully exploit gold deposits, as the proportion of gold in the rock decreases as mining progresses.

The reserves are running out

Gold is a very rare element that makes up just 0.0000005 percent of the earth's crust. 40 percent of the current production volume comes from gold mines in South Africa, the USA, Russia and Australia. Although the largest gold deposits are thought to be in South Africa, the reserves there are likely to be exhausted in around 36 years if the rate of extraction remains the same. According to experts, Russia will still be able to mine gold for around 23 years. Gold reserves in the USA could run out in as little as 17 years. If no new gold reserves are tapped, the world's gold deposits will be exhausted in a few years. The reserves of the 15 most important mining companies are currently estimated at 50,000 tons of gold, whereby around 2,500 tons of precious metal can be mined per year.

Rise in the price of gold

As gold production is limited and the precious metal cannot be produced artificially, a supply shortage will develop in the long term. At the same time, demand is expected to rise, as gold is used in a variety of areas, e.g. in jewelry production, as an investment or in the electrical industry. In view of growing markets in China and India, demand is even likely to increase disproportionately over the next few years. The strong imbalance between supply and demand will cause the price of gold to rise in the long term. Many people are taking advantage of the price increase to sell gold, for example in our Goldankauf Vienna branches.